


A Taylor Swift Kind of Love Story

by rapunzelzz



Category: Disney Princesses, Rapunzel (Fairy Tale), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010), Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Canon Compliant, Complete, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Taylor Swift, Minor Cassuzel, Other, Song: Cruel Summer (Taylor Swift), between them i swear, but nothing else happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:28:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 63,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23483134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rapunzelzz/pseuds/rapunzelzz
Summary: Modern AU: Rapunzel is 21 and enjoying her summer vacation, when someone unexpected comes into her life and turns her world upside down.This is a love story because I'm a hopeless romantic. Rated mature for precaution, but it's not dirty.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 79
Kudos: 71





	1. Love Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a love story baby, just say "Yes"

Before you begin this story, I would like to explain a little bit where it came from. This idea was born from Taylor Swift’s song ‘Cruel Summer’. Initially that was going to be its title, I started writing it back in October 2019, just before season 3 started airing. I’ve never done this before and I’m certainly not a writer, but as time went by this story- like some others I have- kept coming back to me. A few days ago, in the middle of this quarantine, I re-read my first chapter (which is now chapter 6) and decided to finish it.

I’m honestly not certain about my characterization of each character, mainly Rapunzel’s, but it’s the first time I’m doing this, and even thou I don’t know if I’m ever going to write another fanfiction apart from this one, I hope I get better at writing her and I hope you can tell me where I’ve wronged her, so that I could learn from my mistakes.

I struggled to find the balance for this story, afraid at times I was being too innocent and others too mature. But this is a love story, much like Taylor’s song. Her music has helped me shape the plot, so very much so that each chapter, and even this short commentary, is named after one of her many wonderful records. I hope you find it entertaining, stay home, wash your hands and enjoy!

I should absolutely clarify that **_I do not own Tangled, nor Taylor Swift’s music_** … On the other hand, they own my heart.

Also: Give Taylor Swift her music back.


	2. So it Goes...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You did a number on me,  
> but, honestly, baby, who's counting?
> 
> You can find some visuals for this chapter here: rapunzelzz.tumblr.com/tagged/so-it-goes

Summer had barely begun and I was already tired of it. My parents had insisted on rewarding me for my academic struggles, which meant it was the first summer since I was 16 in which I didn’t have to work at the local ice-cream shop. It was both a blessing and a curse, because even thou I was enjoying my free time, I also liked having something to do to keep my mind occupied. When going to the beach was not an option, I resorted into my old hobbies: singing in my room, playing the guitar, doing crafts… I truly felt like a teen again, which was quite uncomfortable.

The Golden Gopher became my nightly hang out, because Pascal had found a job there as a bartender. Every night he would make me try his newly learned cocktail recipes and Lance, the chef, would delight us with his best dishes. I loved my friends, but every day was exactly the same, five minutes in and I was bored again, typical me. 

I was looking for an answer to my prayers when I saw him walk in and everyone else in the room suddenly disappeared.

From that moment on, the pieces started to fall in the right places.

And so it goes…


	3. Sparks Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're the kind of reckless that should send me running  
> but I kinda know that I won't get far

I arrived at the Golden Gopher rather early, it was barely 11 pm, but as it was Saturday it was already packed with people. I sat in my usual stool at the counter and Pascal instantly gave me a glass with something called ‘Tequila Sunrise’ which I hadn’t tried before; its sweetness gave me a rather pleasant surprise.

“This is delicious” I told him excitedly. 

“Glad you like it; I think I might be getting the hang of this!” he said excitedly. Pascal was my best friend since primary school, we did everything together. His hair usually changed color because he was obsessed with dying it the most ridiculous shades there were. I had been the first one to dye his hair green back in high school, and he had never stopped doing it since then. At the moment, he was sporting a baby pink hue that made him look rather adorable. He had started at his job five days ago and he was slowly getting better at cocktails. The first mojito he had given me on his first night was extremely bitter and the sheer amount of alcohol there was in it was enough to keep me rather tipsy for the rest of the night. I couldn’t tell him I hadn’t liked it honestly; he was so proud of himself I even drank the whole thing just to spare him.

Lucky for me he was getting better, I took a rather big sip of my drink before gathering the courage to speak to him.

“So…” I uttered in a low tone “Cassandra texted me today” Pascal looked at me as he put the glass he had in his hand down.

“Rapunzel, you have to stop this.” I knew he would react this way. Pascal had witnessed my disastrous last relationship and its ending. “I am so tired of you two hurting each other, it’s been six months, just let go once and for all”

“I know, I know. It’s just, I kinda miss her you know” Pascal stared at me disappointed.

“Look, she misses you too, okay? and she talked to me about this, I ultimately told her not to contact you anymore, don’t you remember how she got at the end?” I looked at him, I love how he could so easily talk sense into me.

“Yes, she was controlling and manipulative and wouldn’t let me get near anyone she didn’t trust, I know”

“Yes, and what about you? You hurt her too, you know.” I slouched my shoulders and sighed.

“Of course, I remember Pascal, I know I got restless at the end, I shouldn’t have been so honest with her”

“Well, telling her you were bored out of your wits with the relationship may not have been your best move, but honesty is always the best policy, Raps”

“Don’t call me that, that was her nickname!” I punched him in the arm, laughing a bit.

“Well, it’s a damn good nickname, so it stuck, sorry”

“Yeah, whatever…”

Truth was I did not miss Cass. I mean, I missed her in the sense that she was my friend and then somehow, we started dating which ultimately resulted in losing our friendship, and that sucks, but I did not miss our relationship. I think the problem was that summer had barely begun and I was already restless. Maybe my parents’ gift was more of a curse, total idleness did not become me. I needed something to lift my spirits. Going to the beach every day and attending the bar every night was nice, of course, and fun, but I felt kind of numb. The town of Corona was frozen in time, in 21 years it had barely changed. I was looking for adventure in a place where nothing truly exciting happened. All of this numbness left me thinking of Cassandra and how we had left things; I still felt rather awful for hurting her so much, but she had hurt me too.

Long story short is we moved in together after only four months in our relationship, I wasn’t sure I wanted to, but I still followed her instincts because I was in love nonetheless. Six months later I was desperate for my own place, my own things and my own life. She noticed I was being more and more distant which led to her constant snooping around, jealousy and her complete distrust of anyone I ever hung out with. Not to mention how my total lack of interest in more private matters drove her crazy. I felt terrible for a few months, trying to make sense of my emotions. I wanted to work things out, I loved her I knew that much, but she wouldn’t give me the space I needed to think things through. Finally, one morning I snapped and abruptly ended things. Pascal was there to see all of that unfold. Now he was our poor friend caught in the middle of our mess.

That was six months ago. Now summer had finally arrived and we all went back to our hometown, Corona. We left the excitement of the city and its lights to rest for two months. Well, I was resting at least, Pascal had to work. I honestly couldn’t believe myself; I was truly whining because I had no problems, what an idiot.

Cass’ text at least had made me feel something. A bit of nostalgia perhaps, our relationship wasn’t always bad. But Pascal was right, we would end up hurting each other again and I was definitely not ready nor interested in getting myself back into a relationship. I wanted to fool around for a little while, without the stress of having to make it work. I took my phone, deleted her message and decided to move on with my night.

I was about to finish my drink when Lance showed up with a huge plate of fries covered in cheese, bacon and onions, Pascal and I shouted in excitement. Lance was the chef and he always seemed to be in a cheery mood, making everyone around him feel lighter and happy to be in his company.

“Okay, okay, I think these fries are my best ones yet, I hope you enjoy–“ Lance stopped mid-sentence and a huge smile appeared on his face. “Is that who I think it is?” he shouted at someone who was walking through the door. Pascal and I turned to see the who it was.

He was wearing a white V-neck t-shirt and a leather jacket. He turned around to see Lance while putting his phone inside the pocket of his dark blue jeans. A huge smile formed on his face too.

I suddenly felt like a house of cards, one touch and I would probably fall apart. It was strange to say the least. I had never been so instantly captivated by someone.

“Eugene Fitzherbert, is that you?” Lance shouted once again, excitedly. Pascal and I watched the scene unfold in front of us.

The man who had just walked in, Eugene, as I now knew, went inside the counter to hug Lance. They jumped one or two times because of the excitement while Pascal and I laughed a bit at the situation, it seemed they had not seen each other in a long time.

Eugene, now that I could inspect him closer, had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and a smile that could light up an entire city. I swear I could see sparks fly each time he smiled.

I found myself staring for a number of reasons but mainly because he was terribly attractive, even with a stupid goatee.

“So? How was it?” Lance asked intrigued

“It was incredible, I wish I was still there to be honest.” I could not stop staring. Pascal had moved on because someone had asked for a glass of beer, but I found myself enthralled. Apparently, Eugene had been on a trip to the UK, and he had had the time of his life. He had gotten back the day before but stayed in home the entire day because he was jet lagged. Pascal finished up with the customers and directed his attention towards me again. That’s when he caught me staring. He coughed two times to wake me from my trance and at the same time managed to break Lance’s and Eugene’s chat.

“Alright! Eugene, these are my friends, Pascal and Rapunzel. Pascal works here as a bartender and Rapunzel comes in every night to steal our food.” Lance said smiling at us. I laughed and rolled my eyes at him, trying to play it cool. “Guys, this is Eugene Fitzherbert, my best friend”

“Cool, nice to meet you” Pascal said, eyeing me warily.

“Nice to meet you too” Eugene said smiling at us, as he took the stool next to mine.

“Oh right, I gotta work. Eugene, I’m going to leave you in the company of these fine humans for a while, if you don’t mind. Rapunzel, you’re gonna have to share those fries.” I pouted for a few seconds but then smiled at him as he walked into the kitchens.

Pascal once again had to pour glasses of beer which left me alone with this handsome stranger eating fries.

“So, is it true you come here every night to steal food?” he said turning to look at me with a flashing smile. The sparks showed up again. I laughed loudly, maybe my prayers had been answered.

“Absolutely not, I come here every night to keep Pascal company, he’s my best friend, and also because I have nothing better to do really, the food is a silver lining thou”

“Well, good for you, what do you do?” he went on while taking a fork from the counter and grabbing a bunch of fries.

He seemed to be quite good at making conversation, something I really appreciated at that moment because according to Pascal, I was terrible at following social cues. Apparently, that same week at the bar, three different people had tried talking to me, and I, supposedly, blew them all off with my lack of understanding of social rules; although in my opinion it’s because I just was not into them. Eugene, on the other hand, was a whole new story.

“I’m an art student, I’m in my third year. And you?” Pascal came over to give me a new drink and quickly left because the bar was getting busier, but I knew him all too well, he was trying to keep Eugene in check.

“I studied periodism. I’m about to finish my thesis actually, I hope to graduate this year.”

“That’s amazing!” I took a sip of my drink and tried my best to keep up with the conversation “I think I heard Lance say you went on a trip?”

“Yes! I just got back from the UK”

“That’s nice, where did you go there?”

“Well, I actually went to do some research, but of course I went to the touristy places, you know downtown London, the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace…”

I listened to him talk about his trip for a few minutes. He enjoyed the most a Beatles tour he had paid for that took him to Abbey Road, Penny Lane and many other Beatles related places around London, since they were his favorite band. He had also visited Edinburgh and Glasgow. He went there to do some firsthand research on the history of the BBC, and he also got the chance to meet his favorite literature author.

Over all he seemed like a decent guy. We talked for a few more minutes before Lance came back in asking more questions about his trip.

I took this as a chance to inspect him further. He had taken off his leather jacket now and the t-shirt was tight against his body. I was eyeing him as if he were a dessert and I honestly felt so much like a pervert I had to stop myself and my thoughts, my many thoughts on how fun it would be to fool around, just like I wanted, with him. That wasn’t a bad idea. A summer fling, that sounded like something I could handle, and boy he was the perfect match. All I needed to do was gather the courage to… ask him out? What do you do when you want nothing more than a casual relationship? Do you go on dates? Those definitely where things I would have to learn as I went, honestly.

It was almost 1 am and Pascal’s cocktails were in full swing. Eugene was having beer after beer and we couldn’t stop talking to each other. I realized I was a bit tipsier than what would have been recommended but Pascal kept throwing cocktails at me, and he was getting really good at them.

Around 2 am Lance came in and saw Eugene and I laughing uncontrollably about a John Mulaney joke we both remembered, he looked at us with a huge smile but then turned to Pascal and said “Better stop now with the drinks before we have to clean their vomits off the floor or worse… disentangle their tongues” Eugene and I stopped laughing and looked at Lance for a few seconds, but we were so tipsy we started laughing again immediately.

Pascal gave each of us a water bottle to start sobering up. The kitchen was already closed so Lance came over and sat with us. Together, they started telling me about their many daring adventures in high school with a friend named Max, and Lance also kept talking about their many conquests. Eugene seemed to be a little wary about the subject, interrupting Lance before he said any names or any specific facts about anyone. I told them a bit about my adventures with Pascal in high school, which were painting, watching tv shows and sneaking out at night to watch the stars or go to places we were definitely too young to attend. “Once we sneaked into a bar and we were this close” I signaled with my fingers “to get a drink, but Pascal’s fake ID bounced and they kicked us out”

We kept talking until the bar started to slow down, and at around 3 am I started to feel a bit tired. Pascal saw me hide a yawn and told me to head home because he would be there for at least two more hours.

“Okay, yes, I’ll be going now” I announced. “It’s 3am and I think it’s about to start raining” I could see the sky lighting up from the windows.

“Are you close to the bar?” Eugene asked rather concerned.

“Yes, I’m just six blocks away, don’t worry” I told him matter-of-factly.

“Why don’t you take a cab?” Pascal shouted from across the counter still tending to some people.

“I’m not taking an cab for six blocks, Pascal, that’s absurd” I retorted.

“Yes, but I don’t want you to be walking alone at this hour, honestly I’d go with you but Saturdays are kinda busy, I can’t leave now.”

“I know, it’s okay, I’ll text you when I get home” I leaned over the counter and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

“I can walk you home” I heard Eugene say from behind me. Pascal eyed him warily and I threw him a look asking him to stay calm.

I turned around to look at Eugene. Lance was staring at him, rather puzzled.

“I thought you’d like to stay here chatting with Lance” I replied. I honestly did not expect such an offer from him.

“I do!” Eugene answered anxiously “but I can come back after, it’s no problem, really”

It sounded like a solid plan, that way Pascal would not be worried and I would get some alone time with him which I really wanted. I nodded, and got down from my stool. The thing is I was still a bit tipsy, so as I was getting down, I lost my balance for a few seconds and Eugene, who was putting on his jacket, was quick enough to grab me before I fell in front of everyone.

He was a full-on rainstorm and once again I felt like a house of cards. I could crumble right there in front of him if I wasn’t careful enough. His hands were on my waist, how had he caught me so fast? Maybe the alcohol had really messed up my ability to understand proportions and distance.

“You okay there?” I looked up at him, he was smiling at me and those damned sparks were flying all around the room again. For a brief second, I thought about telling him to kiss me, to drop everything and just kiss me. Luckily, I was still able to control my impulses and bad ideas.

“Yes, sorry, I’m just still a little tipsy” was all I managed. He let go of me. Pascal and Lance were eyeing the scene, but refrained from saying anything that would have made us feel awkward. I grabbed my purse, checked for my phone in it, waved Lance goodbye and started walking with Eugene towards the door.

“Text me when you get home!” was the last thing I heard Pascal shout before entering the street.

The night breeze caught me unprepared. I did not check the forecast for any changes, so I just assumed the weather would still be nice by the time I left. I was mistaken. The storm had made the wind change positions and was now coming from the sea, which meant it was freezing. I put my arms around me to try and stay warm but Eugene was quicker and instantly took off his jacket and put it around my figure.

“Thank you” I smiled at him grateful, I was freezing.

“Anything for you, Blondie” he replied smiling as he walked next to me. ‘Blondie’, I liked it, it was a rather obvious nickname considering my long blonde hair, but it had a nice ring to it and he barely even knew me, so obvious was his only choice really. Thankfully, he wasn’t calling me Raps.

The thunders started to sound louder and louder, as we saw the pavement slowly but surely start to get wet. We picked up or pace in order to get to my house quickly. We were only one block away when it started to pour down on us. Unfortunately, one block was enough to leave us soaking wet. I was still wearing his leather jacket, so only my vans and the lower part of my dress got wet. My hair was also dripping, as well as his. Eugene’s white t-shirt was also soaked and sticking to his body, but I tried my best not to stare.

We reached the porch of my house and stood under it, laughing a bit at the situation and watching the rain fall, waiting for it to slow down so that he could get back to the bar.

As we stood there, close to each other, listening to the sky thundering I could only think of one thing. Only one question burned inside my mind and I knew I couldn’t go to sleep without an answer.

I figured I had to be brave and ask him once and for all, otherwise I would have turned around in my bed till morning. I took a deep breath and looked at him. He was running a hand through his wet hair.

“ _I-gotta-ask-before-I-go-in_ ” I uttered anxiously “are you single?” a lightning bolt made the earth tremble just as I finished the question.

“Yes, I am” he replied breathless, the question had caught him by surprise “are you?” he added a few seconds later.

“Yes, I am too” we stared at each other. The rain was not slowing down. I was rooted to my spot, my lips sealed. I considered running inside, the tension was too much for me to handle. There seemed to be some sort of magnetic field surrounding us because I couldn’t move. We were so excruciatingly close, but not close enough to touch. It would take only one step, one moment of bravery to end with the torture. Our eyes were locked, he could see every little thought running through my mind. God damn it, I really liked him. His jacket was impregnated with his perfume, it was intoxicating.

“Good” he replied, finally. His voice was strong enough to wake me from my trance and take that damn step. I got on my tiptoes and threw myself at him, putting my arms around his neck and kissing him. He immediately put his hands on my waist, beneath his jacket, and kissed me back. I moved my hands to the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him down, so that my feet could rest.

The rain was plummeting down, and thunders rang in our ears as we discovered each other. The kiss was escalating, quickly. Good thing there was no one around to see us. He pushed me against the porch pillar as I bit his lower lip softly, and he let out a small moan, lucky for us there was a thunderstorm. One of his hands moved from my waist, to my back, the back of my head and he started to trail kisses from my jaw till the back of my ear. His touch was electrifying and I was begging for more. He stopped for a second before kissing me again on the lips. I happily kissed him back, putting my hands on his face and keeping him there. He pushed me harder against the pillar and I laughed. The storm kept raging on, and we wanted more of the other as the minutes went by. Every new place he kissed sent shivers down my spine. We soon realized that we had to stop before things escalated even more, at least while we were in the streets.

Or cue was the rain, and as it started to slow down, so did we. The kiss had turned softer. He kissed me between smiles and laughter. I was gently running my hands through his arms as he put his forehead against mine. We looked at each other, we both knew this wasn’t over.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” his voice was husky and he still seemed out of breath.

“I’ll be at the bar at 11” I answered as he kissed my neck. I was enjoying this way too much.

“Good” was all he said before kissing me full on the lips again. The rain had completely stopped now, and I could feel my phone vibrating in my purse.

“Pascal must be really worried” I grabbed my phone and checked his messages. I instantly started laughing.

“What is it?” Eugene asked intrigued. I showed him Pascal’s message which said:

_‘Hey little red riding hood, did the wolf eat you or did you get to grandma’s house safely?’_

Eugene chuckled.

“I’m just gonna tell him we were waiting for the rain to stop”

“Yes, I guess I better be going now then”

“Yeah, Pascal is clearly suspicious something’s going on”

“And is that a bad thing?” he put a hand on my chin and lifted my face to plant a kiss on my lips. I sighed as soon as he released me.

“No, but why do they need to know, right?” was my honest answer. I clearly did not want people to know about this, summer flings were supposed to be that, unimportant. Telling people about it would make it important, and that was the last thing I wanted for us.

“Okay, as you wish, Blondie.”

I took off his jacket and walked to the door. I turned around to kiss him one last time for the night, and winked at him. Before I could turn around, he grabbed me by the hand.

“You are captivating” he whispered softly. I smiled up at him.

“You’re not so bad yourself”

I went inside and closed the door.


	4. State of Grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So you were never a saint  
> and I love in shades of wrong
> 
> You can find visuals for this chapter here: rapunzelzz.tumblr.com/tagged/state-of-grace

The weather was still gloomy the next day. Pascal had sent me a message when he arrived home at 6 am, he told me he would probably be sleeping the entire day since going to the beach was off the table. It was 2 pm and Pascal had kept his word, not one new message since 6 am. It was probably a good thing that I wouldn’t spend the day with him. Spending time with my best friend implied I would soon break and tell him about Eugene, and I would rather not to, yet.

I decided to take this gloomy day off as a chance to gather my thoughts and try to understand what had happened last night.

I had made my mind there at the pub that what I was looking for was a summer fling. Sure, I was not expecting him to walk in that same exact second to be honest, but it had made things easier for sure. Apparently, our culture was in the golden age of touch and go, finding people and having a genuine real connection for about three seconds and then moving on. I could do this. The key to it all was not to get attached, that’s what I had to aim for. Getting attached meant being co-dependent and then probably planning a future together, eventually moving into the other’s apartment… or worse, getting attached meant falling in love again, and I was not ready to get hurt or hurt someone else again. No, if I wanted something with Eugene it would only be a summer thing. Once I went back to the city when the semester started, our summer love would have faded in time. No dates, no meeting the parents, no holding hands in public, no commitment. All of that sounded like the perfect twenties adventure.

It was important that I did not change my mind mid-summer. What if somehow, he managed to actually make me fall in love with him? What if I was stupid enough to actually crave his hand holding mine? What if I didn’t follow my instincts again and ended up in a doomed relationship just because I was a coward? Not again, I wouldn’t allow it. As soon as feelings started to escalate, I would end it. There would be no time to mop around for someone this year, I would not let my heart get crushed again, and I would not bear in my mind the burden of having broken someone else’s.

I spent the rest of the day in my room, because it wouldn’t stop raining, sketching in my notebook, trying not to draw Eugene and his perfectly sculpted face. I decided to make a recollection of the previous night: Pascal tending the bar, Lance’s fries, Eugene’s absurd smile and the rainstorm. It ended up looking a bit messy, but at least I had a reminder for later days of that one amazing summer night.

At around 7 pm I went downstairs to watch a movie with my parents, like we did every gloomy Sunday we were together. They usually picked the cheesiest movies to watch, this time they had picked ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’, which to my surprise, wasn’t as cheesy as it could have been. It was funny to watch Julia Roberts so desperately trying to win back Dermot Mulroney’s love.

After dinner, at around 10:45pm, I went upstairs to get ready for the bar. My stomach felt fluttery and I could feel my body excited and anxious at the same time. Eugene was everything I had hoped for, something to keep my mind busy during the summer.

I put on a black pair of jeans ripped at the knee, a striped t-shirt and a big, comfy beige cardigan. I opted for my black vans as per usual and before I left, I put on some mascara and a nude lipstick. I let my hair free of the ponytail I had been wearing all day long, brushed it for a few minutes and ran to the door. The night was about to begin.

I arrived there a few minutes after 11 pm and made a quick scan of the room. Eugene hadn’t arrived yet. I made it a point to not think about that as I walked towards my usual spot at the counter.

“How was your nap?” I asked Pascal when he approached me.

“I don’t even know what year it is” was all he answered before he started pouring some kind of alcohol into the mixer.

“What are you treating me to this night? Those ‘tequila sunrise’ were amazing last night!” I told him excitedly.

“Glad you liked them! But tonight, I’m actually making something a bit more difficult to pull off”

I looked at him work and I worried about not liking whatever he was making. Pascal was about to finish when Lance showed up with mozzarella sticks.

“Is that a ‘Margarita’?” inquired Lance when he saw Pascal pouring a white liquid inside a tall glass.

“Yes! It’s the first one I’ve made, thought it would be cool to put it on the board tonight, as a special treat!”

“That’s a great idea, lemme try it!” Lance grabbed the glass and took a big sip. His eyes expanded and he squirmed with what I think was delight? “Wow! That’s intense man! People are gonna love it!” Pascal beamed, he was really happy with himself and I was happy for him too, the only problem was that I had to try it now, and Lance’s reaction had told me it was going to be… interesting.

Pascal put the glass in front of me, and as always waited for me to try it. I grabbed the glass and put it to my lips without hesitating, the sooner I tried it the sooner it was over. My first thought was that there was lemon in it, it was like a frozen lemonade and I was not a fan of it, Pascal must have forgotten. My second thought was that even thou I could still feel the lemon, the tequila hit hard. It was a really strong drink, I think Pascal was totally messing with the proportions, there’s no way people could enjoy this. But I could not break Pascal’s enthusiasm. I just told him that it was nice, but that lemonade just wasn’t my cup of tea.

The minutes passed and I kept drinking my margarita, I was going to ask for a tequila sunrise as soon as I managed to end it, but I could barely take a sip without feeling the urge to gag. I kept checking my phone, as if I was waiting for someone to text me. It was now almost 12am and I couldn’t stop fidgeting in my seat and biting my nails. I was literally on edge because of the anticipation.

Suddenly someone sat next to me. I turned to see who it was but it turned out to be someone I didn’t know.

“Hi, you come here often? I’ve seen you these past few days” the man said. I looked at him, he was rather attractive, a beard covered most of his face and he had a bun on top of his head.

“Uh, yes, I tend to be here every night” was all I managed to answer, he had caught me by surprise.

“Sweet, does your boyfriend work in the kitchens?” my eyes must have doubled in size because he laughed loudly.

“No, no. I don’t have a boyfriend.” I answered a bit flustered. What was this stranger trying to accomplish?

“Great! I’m Andrew, nice to meet you” he extended his hand to me, which I found rather odd, weren’t handshakes used only in work related situations? I extended my hand to him, but instead of shaking it he grabbed it and kissed my knuckles.

The door opened right that second and Eugene walked in, with his leather jacket and dark jeans, piercing the room like a cannonball. He looked at me and Andrew, who was still holding my hand. His expression was confusing because one second, he looked totally fine and the other he seemed to be completely put off. Was he jealous? Andrew let go of my hand when he saw me looking at Eugene. My cheeks had definitely turned red. Not only had this man caught me off guard, but Eugene as well. Eugene walked towards the counter and sat a stool apart from Andrew, ignoring us entirely.

“And your name is…” Andrew trailed off breaking me of my trance.

“I’m Rapunzel” I said still trying to understand what was going on.

“Would it be okay if I bought you a drink, Rapunzel?” he flashed me a dashing smile.

“I already have one,” I said pointing at my unfinished margarita “I’m sorry, my friend is waiting for me, would you excuse me?” I said as grabbed my margarita and left my stool, leaving Andrew completely puzzled.

I walked towards the other side of Andrew where Eugene was sitting drinking a pint of beer and sulking a little. I sat next to him.

“That was flirting” Pascal appeared from under the counter, making me jump.

“What?” I asked confused

“That man was flirting with you! And once again you totally missed the cues, c’mon Raps, he was a total hunk!”

Eugene made a sound which seemed to be a grumble before grabbing his beer and finishing it in one gulp, I stared at him, something was definitely wrong with him, maybe he had had a bad day?

“Pascal, that guy showed out of nowhere and kissed my hand without even knowing where I’ve been, kinda disgusting if you ask me” Pascal let out a sight and continued to pour beer into glasses.

“Hi…” I said to Eugene who was now asking for a new pint.

“Hi” was all he replied. Maybe he had taken my words last night way too seriously and was pretending he didn’t know me, but it was absurd. Was he jealous because Andrew was hitting on me? Even when I clearly showed zero interest in him? I mean, I wouldn’t call him un-attractive, but he was simply not my type.

“Eugene!” Lance shouted opening the kitchen door “How are you my dear friend? Have you had the chance to try Pascal’s delicious margaritas? Here, take Rapunzel’s!” Lance grabbed my glass and put it in front of Eugene, who inspected the beverage warily. He put the glass to his lips and took a sip. His face contorted in disgust.

“God, there is far too much tequila in this! Are people actually drinking this?” he asked us with an expression of total disgust on his face.

“That’s exactly what I thought when I tried it!” I exclaimed happily.

“God, how are you still drinking it?” he slid the glass back to me, as if he was trying to stay as far away from it as possible, I laughed.

“It breaks my heart to tell Pascal I sometimes don’t like his cocktails. I just drink them and never ask for them again” Lance looked at us disapprovingly.

“You two are way too soft! Don’t know how to enjoy good things!” He said putting an arm across Pascal “Come here buddy, let’s show these softies how it’s done”

Pascal, who was far too busy filling glasses with beer, did not understand what Lance was talking about, but he knew that sometimes nodding worked to keep Lance and his many extravaganzas happy.

As Lance turned around, Eugene looked at me mischievously and signaled with his index finger on his mouth that I had to keep quiet. With one smooth movement, he stretched his arms and hit my glass carelessly. The glass crashed on the floor.

“Oh, no!” he shouted, pretending to be embarrassed “I’m such a clutz! I’m so sorry Blondie, I’ll get you a new drink!” he winked at me as he got down from the stool to get something to clean the mess on the floor. I tried not to laugh too loudly at the situation but Lance was standing in front of the kitchen door with an expression of total shock and betrayal.

“You did that on purpose, Eugene Fitzherbert!” Lance shouted as he taped his foot indignantly on the floor.

“No-oh-oh” Eugene replied making it sound like he had completely done it on purpose “How dare you accuse me of such a thing?” he put a hand up to his chest as he grabbed a mop that was hidden behind a fridge, behind the counter. Eugene cleaned the floor and swept the glass off the floor.

“Okay, what do you actually want to drink? He inquired as he returned to his stool, taking a sip of his beer.

“A tequila sunrise, please” I said leaning closer to him “You’re my hero, by the way. I was never going to finish that drink” I admitted in a whisper. Eugene’s spirits seemed to have been lifted after the small ‘incident’. We spent the rest of the night playing cards and talking to each other, just like the previous night.

At around 2:30 am I received a text from an unknown number. The text was literally just a bunch of numbers, I excused myself to the restroom and replied.

  * _Who is this?_
  * _A friend._
  * _How did you get my number?_
  * _Asked Pascal for it._
  * _Lance?_
  * _You got it, princess!_
  * _How did you convince Pascal to give you my number?_
  * _Last night after you two left I told him there was a meme I wanted to show you._
  * _And is there one?_
  * _Of course! Look:_



He sent me a meme of a cat that had had too much catnip and had to pretend not to be high while watching tv with his owners.

  * _Okay, that is funny, I’ll give you that much. But what were those numbers you sent first?_
  * _Eugene’s phone number._



Okay, great! So, Lance was playing matchmaker now.

  * _Why couldn’t he give me it himself?_
  * _Ah, he’s kind of a coward when it comes to girls, don’t let him fool you!_
  * _lol, great thx_



Even thou Lance was getting his nose where it didn’t belong, having Eugene’s number actually gave me an idea.

  * _Hey! I’m leaving in ten, wanna come and get me in 30 min?_
  * _It depends, are you an incredibly beautiful young girl with long blonde hair?_
  * _No, I’m the man with the bun who was flirting with her!_
  * _Haha, very funny. Where do I find you?_
  * _The alley next to Uncle Monty’s._
  * _*thumbs up emoji*_



I went back to the counter and told Pascal and Eugene I wasn’t feeling alright and that I would take and cab home.

“I’m gonna head outside to wait, bye!” I grabbed my things and left in a hurry.

Pascal looked at Eugene, asking him to follow me and make sure I got inside the car safely. Soon we were both outside, and I was grinning like a wild cat.

“So… is there actually a cab?”

“Of course! It’s dropping me around the corner” Eugene chuckled softly.

“Okay, what are we going to do next?” he asked crossing his arms, his grey t-shirt hugging him in all the right places.

“I don’t know, what do you want to do?” I asked mischievously, looking up at him.

“I can think of something” was all he said staring straight at me. The car arrived, Eugene opened the door for me and I got in, still smiling.

I arrived at Monty’s rather quickly, it was only five blocks away after all. It was 2:55 am, Eugene wouldn’t be arriving for at least another 15 minutes.

All I had to do was try to have fun, that’s what summer flings were for after all. Sneaking around like this sure made things exciting, but there still was a small voice in my head telling me to be careful. What if things got out of control? Better put on some armor to prevent any feelings reach my heart; I did not want to get hurt again. Of course, what would happen if he got hurt?

I figured I would have to tell him about my plans, it would be terribly mean to lead him on and leave him hanging as soon as the semester started. I decided to be upfront with him about the situation as soon as he arrived, making sure there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings between us. I did not want to potentially hurt him by making him believe this could be something more.

Ten minutes passed and I was sitting on Monty’s bench on the sidewalk, when a figure appeared around the corner. He saw me waiting for him and a smile light up his entire face. The armor, the one I had put on just mere minutes ago, was already damaged. Had I found my Achilles heel? Maybe this was going to be more difficult than I predicted. Were all people just completely heartless or had I been way too lucky -or unlucky- to find someone like him? Every time he smiled; I froze like a deer in headlights.

Eugene sat next to me and put an arm around my shoulders.

“So…” I began “what was your excuse?” I poked him on the nose and he chuckled softly.

“It’s Monday, I gotta work early”

“Right, we’re adults with actual responsibilities” I had to remember I was the only one on vacation right now, it made me look like an asshole when I forgot about it.

“Well, at least I have responsibilities” he said leaning closer to me. Once again, I found myself involved in his perfume, it was exhilarating. I slowly closed my eyes as he made his way towards me. Suddenly, our lips touched for the first time in what seemed an eternity. He put his free hand on my cheek and deepened the kiss. Just like the previous night the situation quickly escalated, so before we started a very public show, I looked at him.

“Where do you live?” I put a hand on his chest and stared at his lips, he looked at me rather surprised, I don’t think he was expecting me to be so upfront.

“I live just three blocks away” he answered, his breathing a bit shallow.

“Great, let’s go!” I stood up and waited for him to lead the way, to my surprise he stayed on the bench.

“But wait, are you sure you want to move this fast?” he looked at me concerned, I sat down next to him again and took one of his hands.

“I’m a big girl, I know what I want” I told him simply, giving him a peck on the lips.

“Okay, yes, we’re totally on the same page there” he said giving me a quick kiss, stopping for a second to bite my lower lip. “But, and trust me, I know I may be fucking things up by asking this, but what are you looking for exactly?” he grabbed one of my hands and started to softly lay kisses on it, I was still gathering my thoughts when he stopped to add “It’s not usual lady behavior popping into a guy’s apartment at half past three in the morning”

“And you know a lot about lady behavior?” I asked him in a lame intent to sound seductive. He smiled up at me as he pushed a lock of hair out of my face.

“Actually, no. I mean, I’ve definitely not been a saint, but this situation has me more and more puzzled by the second” I really wanted to believe him but I couldn’t just take his word for it, there’s no way this man was not well-versed in the universe of casual relationships. “So, if you don’t mind, tell me your intentions”

I looked up at him, I knew he was waiting for an answer, but the truth was I couldn’t get the nerve to tell him my plan because I had just realized it was really, really embarrassing. Finally, he sighed and put one of his arms on the back of the bench, using it to support his head.

“I know it’s only been a day,” he continued “but I think I really like you” he said simply. I felt my heart accelerate to 100 miles a minute and my eyes expand double their size, I stood up rather quickly, grabbing a strand of my hair and fidgeting with it awkwardly.

“ _Look, I really like you too_ ” was the first thing that came out of my mouth in a hurry, he turned to look at me “ _but I’m not looking for anything serious, I just want a summer fling_ ” I added breathlessly. Hearing the words come out of my mouth made me realize I was being an asshole, loving in shades of wrong as always, trying to manipulate our dynamic without even thinking about him or what he wanted. He stood up and looked me in the eyes, his gaze was dark and disappointed. If I kept hurting people like this, I would end up with a mosaic of broken hearts in my hands, learning to live with the pain being so selfish brought into my life.

“Okay” he said in barely a whisper. I had hurt him, I knew it. This was exactly why I had to stay away from relationships, I was always so selfish I ended up hurting everyone around me. “Nothing real then, just some fooling around?”

“Yes,” I looked up at him, my brow furrowed, waiting for the inevitable ending of something that had barely even begun.

He grabbed me by the hand and, to my dismay, started walking.

“Where are we going?” I honestly thought he would leave me there, too hurt to even say goodbye.

“To my apartment” he said simply, turning to look at me.

We walked the short distance to his place, he lived in a small flat above his father’s garage. He opened the door and I walked into his living room. He turned on the lights and I inspected the room. Immediately on my right I saw a counter and three stools, separating the kitchen and the living room space. The kitchen was miniature, but it was more than enough space for one person. The living room was on my left, there he had a computer on a desk, a big screen, a comfy couch and a coffee table. The wooden floor creaked as we walked in. Following the counter and opposite the front door, I could see the bathroom and right next to its left, another door led to his bedroom. 

The living room had a big window with a view of the street and underneath it there was a sideboard with two frames. I walked closer to it and leaned down to look at them. The first one was a birthday picture; Eugene must have been turning four years old and was being held by his parents as all three of them smiled for the camera. It looked like a merry moment. In the other photo, a woman I assumed was his mother, was holding him when he was a baby. They looked like a happy family.

“Would you like something to drink?” he had taken off his jacket, I turned to look at him.

“Yes, a glass of water would be nice” I walked towards the kitchen where he was standing. He gave me the glass and I took a big sip.

“So, let’s be really clear about this then” he started as I was drinking. “What do you consider a summer fling?” he asked putting his hands on the counter and taking a seat. I mirrored his movements from the other side.

“Well, I suppose it entails not telling people about us, mainly” I declared.

“Not even Lance and Pascal?”

“No one”

“Okay,” he said warily. “What about being around in public?” he continued.

“We can be together around in public but only as friends. No kissing, no touching, no flirting.” He nodded. He put a hand on his chin, his head still full of questions.

“So, once semester starts, you go back to college and we forget about each other” he concluded.

“Exactly” I said simply.

“I have so many questions” he put both hands on the side of his face and laughed. “What is this about? Did you see me walk in the bar last night and immediately think ‘Ah, yes, the perfect prey’?” he ran a hand through his hair.

“Well, I mean… I never saw _you_ coming” I stated frankly, I truly was not expecting him to walk through that door, the hands of fate must have had something to do with it.

“What happens if you change your mind? Love is a ruthless game, you know?” was his final question.

“Unless you play it good and right” I cocked my head to the side and smiled at him. He walked around the counter and launched himself at me. We started kissing, hungrily. We had waited long enough, the last thing we wanted was to let go of the other. I hugged his figure with my legs and he grabbed me by the waist, lifting me up. I ran my hands through his hair and savored each little movement our tongues made, teasing one another. A few moments later he started walking towards his room and kicked the door open. As if his perfume wasn’t intoxicating enough, his entire room smelled like it. We lay in bed undressing each other and discovering each other’s bodies until it was light out. That’s the thing about summer, its nights are the most fun, but they last so little.

I woke up a few hours later, tangled in his sheets and with him cuddling me. I turned around to kiss him, a sweet addiction I would have to learn to control at some point. _‘What an amazing night’_ , I thought as I stretched a little. Both of us in his room, slates clean, no doubts about where we stood. It was good. A state of grace.

The sunlight from his bedroom window hit us right in the face, causing him to open his eyes and snuzzle closer to me.

“Good morning, sunshine” he sleepily uttered while scooping me closer. I ran my fingers through his hair as he hid his face from the morning sun. I inhaled his scent, he truly felt like a drug.

“You gotta promise me something,” I whispered into his ear while gently kissing his earlobe. He made a sound implying he was curious. “You have to promise you won’t fall in love with me”

He disentangled himself a little, just enough to look me in the face.

“I’m sorry Blondie,” he replied after a few moments, inspecting my sleepy face “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.” And with that he leaned in to kiss me, ready to do it all again.

We would never be the same after that night.


	5. New Romantics/Treacherous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can't decide if it's a choice  
> Getting swept away -  
> Baby, we're the new romantics  
> The best people in life are free

“What’s going on between you and Eugene?” Pascal asked me as he sipped his lemonade.

We were lying on our tarps under the shade of my umbrella at the beach, it was a beautiful summer day, too bad I was too sleepy to enjoy it. When I had suggested to Pascal we relaxed for a few minutes I was hoping to catch some sleep, and maybe even daydream a little about Eugene, but that was clearly not going to happen. The question caught me by surprise, I thought I had been covering my tracks pretty well for the last few days.

“What do you mean?” I asked him, trying to be as aloof as possible “There’s nothing going on”

“So, why is he always leaving just a few minutes after you leave each night?” he inquired, of course he would sense something was up, it was far too obvious to be sincere.

I was so tired from staying up late with Eugene and waking up early to get home, that I decided to keep lying. Explaining things would take hours, and I was enjoying not having to tell people about my summer fling, even if it meant hiding things from my best friend.

“I don’t know, maybe you should ask him” I was already closing my eyes again when Pascal’s thoughts disrupted my falling into slumber.

“I just think it’s weird that he waits for you to leave” _Well, Eugene would have to leave early tonight then_ , I thought to myself. “How are you feeling by the way? You’ve been kinda sick all week.”

“Oh, I’m fine, I think it’s allergies. Maybe something at the bar is causing them” I lied, again. My eyes were closing up again when Pascal made me jump.

“Hey, by the way!” he said excitedly “That guy you completely blew off a few days ago came by asking about you again last night after you left”

“Ugh” was the only sound that left my mouth. I couldn’t bring myself to care about that Andrew guy.

“I gave him your number” he said triumphantly. I instantly picked up my head and looked at him though my shades.

“What!?” I asked him exasperatedly “Pascal, why would you do that?”

“Look, under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have done it” he said defending himself “but I just think you need a summer romance and he looks like a good deal, since clearly you’re not into Eugene”

“What makes you think that!?” I kept making questions because he wasn’t making any sense.

“Oh, so you _are_ into Eugene, then?” he said smiling up mischievously. I shook my head, making it clear that that wasn’t my main concern.

“Why would you think Andrew would be a good summer romance?” I had been completely awoken, the fact that that guy would be sending me texts irked me in all the wrong ways.

“Well, he’s clearly hot and he looks dumb enough if you ask me, what more do you want for a summer fling?” I looked at him shocked because suddenly he was making a lot of sense. Maybe I _had_ made the wrong choice with Eugene.

“Okay, you may have a point there, but that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like him, not one bit”

“Well, maybe if you gave him a chance you would find something to like!” he said laughing uncontrollably.

“You are the worst” I finished returning to my sleeping pose, huffing and puffing.

“Well, then maybe if Andrew is not the guy for you… I mean, Eugene is right there” he tried to sound as innocent as possible, as if waiting for me to come clean.

“Pascal, I don’t like Eugene, we’re just having fun at the bar, okay?” I felt awful lying to my best friend like that, but the thought of having to explain what Eugene and I were doing to someone else felt like breaking the rules, even when I had made them up.

Having to lie to everyone, everyday about us felt a little like a battle I was only fighting with myself, but every night with him felt like a dream, making it all worth it. I wanted to be that new kind of romantic, those kinds of people who basked in the sadness of their failed attempts at love, but who proudly thrived in the knowledge that the ache would eventually fade out into the numbness of it all. Just another story, just another stranded love in this world. We were so young to be caught up in something as big as a relationship, why even bother? Eugene and I were on the road to ruin, and I was actually enjoying not having to worry about it. I knew exactly what we were doing and it was treacherous, but damn it, it felt good.

Summer flings were the epitome of heartbreak, it was their national anthem and I knew it well before hand, but how much of a heartbreak would I endure if there were no strings attached? Not one single feeling in between our sacred nights together, and God he was good company. It felt like, sometimes, the best people in life were free of cost. No baggage to be claimed, no return ticket. Just one big boom and goodbye.

Of course, he had made no such promises. I had promised myself I wouldn’t get attached, but I shivered remembering that first night together when in the end he refused to promise the same thing. He was treading on dangerous waters, I just hoped I wouldn’t drown with him.

I was finally able to fall asleep for a while and recover some of the energy the endless nights with Eugene were taking from me, a summer job would have been less taxing than this. The fear of stepping on my own lies also felt like a hug weight on my shoulders, but seeing Eugene walk in through the pub’s door each night made it all worth it. We were having the time of our lives each night in his apartment and I wasn’t planning on stopping any time soon, summer had barely begun.

Pascal and I returned to our homes at around 7pm, he had to get ready for work, and I had to take an additional nap before dinner. My holidays had definitely perked up when Eugene had walked in the picture.

That night before I left for the bar, my phone vibrated twice in my pocket. The texts were from an unknown number, I opened them and instantly rolled my eyes.

  * _Hey gorgeous, wanna go out sometime?_
  * _Maybe I can get you that drink I promised the other night._



Andrew had finally made his move. I did not answer him, I truly wasn’t interested. He was attractive, Pascal was right, but one summer fling was more than enough. I was already putting the phone back in my pocket when it vibrated a third time. I rolled my eyes again, certain that Andrew’s number would be on the screen again. But when I unlocked it and looked at the screen, a far more pleasant name was waiting for me.

  * _We need to talk, meet me in the alley behind the bar in ‘20._



That was intense, I wondered what was so important that couldn’t wait until we got back to his apartment later that night. Without much to do, I gave one final look at the mirror and walked downstairs.

I was about to leave out the front door when my dad called me up from the living-room.

“Darling! Could you come here for a second?”

I walked into the room and stared at him; he was sitting next to my mom in the big couch.

“Yes, dad?” I asked as sweetly as possible.

“We were just wondering where have you been staying this past week? We’ve noticed you’re not here when we wake up” my mom inquired. Good thing was I had a lie already made up for this occasion.

“Oh! I’m staying at Pascal’s!” I said trying to sound as convincing as possible. “He lives closer to the bar and since I’m already staying with him until closing time, I just sleep over at his place and come back when there’s more people out in the streets”

“Oh, that makes sense” my father said looking a little surprised. “Your mother was certain you’d be staying with someone special you didn’t want us to find out about” he said chuckling a little.

“Well, Pascal is my most special _friend_ , mom” I said looking at her with a big smile on my face.

“Oh, I know, I know!” she said giving my dad a funny look and closing the book she was reading. “Your father’s the one that’s worried, even if he’s trying to play it cool” My dad gave her a stern look for ratting him out “ _I_ ” she said emphasizing the pronoun, “know you’re an adult who makes her own choices” I laughed at them before heading to the door again and shouting a sweet goodbye before closing it behind me.

I arrived a few minutes past eleven and went straight into the alley. It was dark and damp, I could already feel my hair frizzing up from the humidity around it. I was about to check my phone when he cornered me against the wall, making me jump at first and then laugh a little anxiously at his obvious excitement. People were walking by on the sidewalk, but we were submerged in darkness. He put a hand against the wall to support himself, as he leaned closer to me. I was leaning against the wall, looking up at him, and even thou I could barely make it out, I knew he was smiling like a devil, far too happy with the himself.

“I think I told you kissing in public was off limits” I whispered seductively.

“Mhm,” he said calmly “but I’m not kissing you, so it’s fair game”, he put a hand on my chin and lifted my face even more, so that his lips were a mere centimeter from mine. My eyesight became blurrier as the seconds went by, inhaling his perfume, that stupid perfume that could drive me insane. He certainly had some sort of gravitational pull, because I couldn’t move from where I was standing, I was locked in his eyes, waiting for him to stop torturing me. Finally, he closed the distance between us and kissed me. I put my hands on the collar of his leather jacket, bringing him much closer to my body. His hands started sliding down my slides, tracing circles on the lower part of my back and keeping me from moving away. My hands somehow found their way to his hair, as always, and started pulling it softly. We had been making out for a few minutes, and I was ready to climb him like a tree when someone opened the back door.

We stopped moving, rooted to our spot in the hopes that whoever was coming from the kitchens did not see us, lucky for us there were no lights in the alley and the darkness surrounding us was enough to keep us concealed. After a few seconds we realized someone had just opened the door to let air into the kitchen. I quickly let go him and tried to comb my hair with my hands and I arranged the straps of my yellow top. I imagined my lipstick was a mess, and that his face was covered in it. I reached into my purse and found some makeup wipes which I always brought along with me. I cleaned our faces and walking closer to the light I managed to put on lipstick again using my phone’s screen as a mirror.

“Was there actually something you needed to talk about or was this your plan all along?” I asked walking back into the darkness where he was standing against the wall. I could make out his figure shaking his head.

“I’m quite proud of myself” he muttered as he pulled a strand of my hair out of my face. I knew he couldn’t really make out my expression, but I gave him a stern look as I put a finger on his chest.

“Then this was stupid and reckless and we shouldn’t do it again” I said laughing a little. “What a treacherous thing to do!” he laughed along with me.

“Well, I thought you were doing this because you wanted to have some fun. What’s more fun than sneaking around when there’s a chance you might get caught?” he grabbed my finger taking it out of his chest and in the same movement lifted my hand, making me spin, as if we were dancing.

“Well, I prefer to sneak around knowing no one’s going to find us” I told him putting both of my hands on his chest, as he hugged my figure.

“Oh, but where’s the fun in that?” he asked leaning in again, getting close to my lips “It’s not the end of the world if someone finds out, you know?” he whispered.

“Oh, no! I just re-applied my lipstick, sir” I said squeezing out of his embrace “Besides, I really don’t feel like explaining this to anyone” I said as I started walking in the direction of the front door, but he caught me from behind.

“What’s there to explain, really? We’re just fooling around, that’s all. It’s no big deal” he said as he spun me around, making me laugh louder than advised. Once the laugher had subsided, I was able to answer him.

“Well, it’s not that simple, people tend to over-complicate things” I whispered grabbing his hand as he took a step closer, lifting up my chin.

“That sounds like something you’re gonna have to explain to me later tonight” he whispered back leaning in and kissing my forehead.

For a few seconds his gentle touch felt dangerous, I felt like Icarus flying too close to sun, melting slowly. His hand on my chin, his lips on my face. I wanted to run away, but it felt like I had stepped on quicksand, he was gently drowning me with his soft touch. His hands were speaking to me, asking me to stay and never move, and I really wanted to obey. I suddenly realized we were being reckless again. Taking a deep breath, I gathered the strength to step away from him.

“Pascal must be worried I’m late, I better go in now” I said a little flustered. The path we were walking was clearly dangerous, but I had to admit to myself for the second time that day that I was definitely enjoying him way too much.

I walked into the bar and spotted Pascal behind the counter, tending to some customers.

“Hey, traitor” I said as I took my usual place at the counter “how’s the night going?”

“Haha, very funny!” Pascal retorted as he poured a pint of beer for an eager client “Call me a traitor again and I’ll call him up, he’s on that table over there drinking with his pals”

I looked over my shoulder to the center of the bar, and there was Andrew sipping his beer oblivious to my presence at the counter, and I prayed for it to stay that way.

“Besides, I’m not a traitor! I’m just giving you a nudge in the right direction” Pascal added as he put money into the cashing machine. I rolled my eyes at him.

“Why is Pascal a traitor?” Eugene chimed in as he sat on his stool giving my friend a weird look.

“I gave Andrew Rapunzel’s number last night” he declared proudly.

“There’s no need to be proud about it, it was a really bad call!” I said picking up a lime from behind the counter and throwing it to Pascal’s face.

Eugene had suddenly moved awkwardly in his stool as he tried to find the words to say something nonchalant about the subject, but I could see him struggling, his face going from jealousy, to disgust, to a fake smile in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, alright, the man with the bun and the asymmetrical eyebrows?” Pascal stared puzzled at Eugene’s specific remark. “Uh… I have a thing with eyebrows” he quickly added saving face from his obvious burst of jealousy “I get really nervous when they don’t match” he finished. Pascal put one of his hands on his eyebrows to brush them while eyeing Eugene rather spooked.

“The thing is, Rapunzel is refusing to give him a chance” Pascal continued, “and I know she’ll regret it someday”

“Pft, please!” I said indignant “I’d rather date the ghost of Ruthless Ruth than that guy” I declared strongly, making Eugene laugh rather loudly.

“Fine then!” Pascal finished as he leaned in to hear another client’s order. Once he was done, I ordered my nightly tequila sunrise and Eugene his usual pint of beer.

I was already in my third tequila sunrise when Lance barged in through the kitchen door claiming the kitchen was finally closed for the night and that he wanted one of Pascal’s wonderful margaritas.

Eugene and I looked at each other with disgust remembering that dreadful cocktail from a week ago as Lance hugged us from behind, wrapping his arms around our shoulders.

“Ah, it’s only been a week and you already share shitty tastes together, the power of love” he said letting out a sigh. I froze in place and gave Eugene a deathly stare.

Eugene’s expression was exactly the one you’d expect from someone caught in the middle of a lie. His eyes were closed, his teeth clenched, his nose scrunched and his hands in fists.

“He knows?” I asked in a low growl. Luckily Pascal had been serving pints all across the counter so he hadn’t heard Lance’s casual comment.

“You didn’t tell her!?” Lance asked as he took a step away from us, looking at Eugene worriedly. I gave him a puzzled look, what was Lance talking about? Eugene opened one of his eyes and was about to say something when Pascal showed up.

“What did I miss!” he asked excitedly seeing we all were pretty wrapped in our own little discussion, Lance tried to play it cool and Eugene cleared his throat.

“I was just about to ask you for one of your wonderful margaritas, my dear friend!” Lance said quickly changing the subject.

“But of course!” Pascal roared happily as he went to the shelf on the back with all the bottles lined up looking for the right ingredients to prepare his dreadful margaritas. I kept looking at Eugene furiously, when Lance decided to chime in once again. 

“Look, I know I have a foot in my mouth right now” he whispered “but your reaction isn’t helping” and I hated to admit it, but he was right, and I needed time to process it all on my own.

“I need some air” I declared looking at the floor and taking my jacket and purse with me outside. Pascal heard me as he put some bottles down behind the counter and looked at me worried, he could see I was not feeling well, but as always, he could not leave his post.

I ran outside and hid in the dark alley I had been with Eugene in only a few hours ago, I put my hands on my face and started pacing, taking in big breaths.

I knew this would happen; I knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him. What an idiot. It was over. I was taking my phone out of my purse to send him a text saying: _we’re done_ when I heard his voice behind me.

“I’m sorry” he said leaning against the wall, crossing his arms. I put my hands down and stared at him. “He’s my best friend, he figured it out yesterday and confronted me about it. I didn’t tell him. I was going to tell you about it early tonight, but I forgot” I looked at him disapprovingly “He assumed I had told you, which is why he made that comment” Maybe I was being too harsh on him.

“This is driving me insane” I confessed grabbing the bridge of my nose.

“Can I be brutally honest with you?” he said still leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, which made his damn t-shirt expand around his defined arms. I nodded. “You’re the one who over-complicates things” I, once again, gave him a deathly stare.

“No, I was quite clear!” I shouted, pointing at him with my index finger and walking so that I was right in front of him “I am not looking for something serious, telling people qualifies as giving it relevance, I don’t want that”

“That’s nice” he said puffing, “I’m just your sex toy, that feels great!” he replied calmly but with a pretty obvious tone of sarcasm in his voice.

“No, you’re not!” I replied indignant “We’re having fun, I enjoy your company and our time together, I just don’t want people talking about us”

“What’s the problem with that!?” he asked throwing his arms in the air “People will always talk, that’s not our problem, Sunshine”

“I know that!” I exclaimed exasperatedly “I just didn’t want to get hurt” I finished loudly. He looked at me silently for a few seconds before continuing.

“I don’t think that’s an option, Blondie” He turned around to leave, but before emptying the alley he stopped to look at me, grabbing the bridge of his nose “Look, I’m not telling anyone, but I can’t help it if people figure it out on their own, okay?” he let out a sight as I watched him from a distance. “I’m tired, Imma head home if you don’t mind. See ya”

As I watched him leave, I heard my own voice inside my mind screaming at him to stay. I felt my heart break. This had definitely gone too far already. I stayed outside in the alley trying to calm my nerves and gather my thoughts. So, Lance knew about us now, was it really that bad? Would Lance ever come to me for an explanation? I did not think so, in any case he would talk directly to Eugene. Would he be able to keep it a secret? I think he would be more careful now that he saw my reaction to his slip. Was it Eugene’s fault? Not really. What was I doing? We clearly were walking down a path that would lead us to disappointment and heartbreak, damn it, I was already a bit heartbroken and we had only been seeing each other for a week. What was wrong with me? Was I just unable to keep things separate? Did my feeling always have to get in the way? What happened to leaving things stranded? Was I getting really that attached? It had barely been a week! I couldn’t be messing things up so quickly.

I lay against the wall for a few minutes before walking back into the bar. Pascal looked at me worriedly.

“Oh no, is it the allergies?” he asked me. I nodded, shamefully lying to him.

“I need to go to the restroom; I’ll be right back”

There was a small line of women waiting to get in, but I didn’t need to pee, I just wanted to look at myself in the mirror, so I just walked in despite the yells and the growls from some of the girls, thinking I was cutting line.

I stared at my face, my cheeks were red, my eyes were watery and my lips were swollen for biting them so hard, no wonder Pascal actually believed it was allergies. I splashed my neck with some water to combat the surge of feelings I was experiencing, then I grabbed my lipstick and re-applied it for the second time that night, brushed my hair a little and went out the door.

I was on my way back to the counter when someone suddenly popped in front of me, the strong macho odor and open-buttoned shirt told me instantly who it was, I didn’t need to look up, I grunted loudly.

“Hey gorgeous, you didn’t answer my texts” he said suavely, giving me a side smile.

“My phone got stolen by a seal, and I don’t plan on getting a new one” I said as I tried to scurry away from him. I glanced at my empty stool on the counter where Pascal was staring at us with a smile from ear to ear, telling me to _‘go get it’_ I was going to murder him in his sleep.

“Well, then I’ll ask you again, wanna grab a drink?” he said trying to sound smooth, unsuccessfully, I swear the only thing attractive about this guy was how healthy his hair looked. Tonight, he was rocking it loose, it fell all the way down to his shoulders. I let out a defeated sigh and caved in.

“Okay, one drink”

I followed him to the counter where he asked Pascal for two drinks I couldn’t quite catch the name of.

“Oh, no, I’d like to have a tequila sun-” I started before being rudely cut-off by Andrew.

“No, you’ll like the caipiroska, I know” He said adamantly, I gave him an annoyed look. What a wonderful male habit that was, interrupting women and deciding for them. This was going to be fun.

“So gorgeous, what’d you study?” he asked leaning on the counter, resting his head on his hand, while giving me a coy smile. I tried hard not to yawn; I don’t know what about that guy bored me so much! I had already had a similar conversation with a much more interesting guy about a week before, so this wasn’t doing it for me, but I decided to keep going, at least give him a 10-minute chance.

“I study art in Vardaros” I answered as Pascal put our drinks in front of us.

“Oh, I thought you’d be doing something more useful with your time” he said laughing, as if he was cracking up a joke. Pascal froze at his comment and threw me a look that said ‘ _oops, I’m sorry_ ’ I was going to kill him as soon as his shift was over. I had to shake the shock off my system before answering him.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Is art not useful to society?” I grabbed my glass and brought the straw closer to my lips, giving his beloved caipiroska a try. As soon as the liquid reached my mouth, I shivered in my seat. It was bitter and had a strong taste of alcohol. I wasn’t sure if the cocktail was truly supposed to taste that bad or if Pascal was just simply trying to kill me with it. A single glass of that and I would need a lot of help getting home. Andrew also took a sip from his glass, but instead of convulsing like I had he simply shouted at Pascal something along the lines of ‘ _Ooh, man! This is the shit!_ ’ So, it _was_ supposed to taste bad. Maybe Pascal was actually good as a bartender and I just didn’t like drinking. He returned his attention to me after his commentary and finally answered my question.

“Well, art is not environmental law” he said smiling smugly. I looked at him rather puzzled because he was right, art is most definitely not environmental law, but why would he compare the two? He was waiting for me to say something, but I simply looked at him, my eyes big with wonderment and questions “That’s what I do, I’m an environmental lawyer”

“Oooh!” I answered as the reason for the comparison dawned on me. I sat there, nodding my head up and down, waiting for him to ask something else. I was honestly not interested in asking anything myself. If I hadn’t made it clear earlier, I did not like the guy. He also waited for a few seconds, giving me a chance to think of a question for him, but absolutely nothing came to my mind. What an awkward situation, I thought to myself as I slowly sipped the disgusting drink before giving up on it entirely and asking Pascal for a tequila sunrise. I took a deep breath and pursed my lips, playing with my fingers on my lap. I went back to my conversation with Eugene the week before and how simple it had been, how easily the words fell through my mouth talking to him, how effortless it had been. This right now felt like a battle, a battle I was more than happy to give up in.

“So-” I said, trying to find something to say, when he interrupted me a second time.

“Well, I just think that environmental law is actually doing something for society for example a few weeks back…” he continued, but I instinctually tuned him off. He kept talking about the wonderful things he was doing as an environmental lawyer and how much he was saving society by winning a petty case in which a homeless person was asked to leave the place in the square he was living in because he was polluting the space. I kept thinking of Eugene and our discussion just a few minutes earlier. I sure was not in control of how things were going anymore, but damn it I liked things the way they were, it was exciting and full of twists and turns. I stood up from my stool, making Andrew suddenly stop the story of his daring deeds and stare at me.

“I’m so sorry,” I said looking up at him in some sort of trance, “but I need to go!” I grabbed my coat and purse and shouted to my friend from over the counter “Pascal, I gotta go!” He gave me a look that said ‘ _It’s okay, I understand, I’d run too_ ’ and with that I left for the door, ready to follow Eugene home.

I started walking towards his place. Summer Saturday nights were always full of excitement, the tourists went out, people drove around town all night long and music coming from different places and houses could be heard all around. The car headlights blinded me as I made my way through the streets, making it difficult to see where I was stepping; which funnily enough felt like a metaphor for my current situation, I was blindly walking into something much bigger than me.

I kept thinking about what I was feeling. We are nothing but skin and bone trained to get along with our emotions and urges, but Eugene was complete friction; with only a few days he had been able to shake every nerve in my small body.

I arrived at his house and evaluated my options, I could throw a small pebble at his window, but I was too afraid to break it, so I opted for a simple text message, hoping he’d see it.

  * _I’m outside_



I hit sent and waited for an answer. Lucky for me, a few minutes later I saw the lights turn through the shades on in the living room window. He climbed down the stairs and opened the garage’s front door. He was wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt, he truly looked like heaven. I walked towards him and as soon as I had him in front of me and threw myself at him. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the lips. I think he tried to fight the urge to kiss me back, but eventually he caved in. I smiled as he slowly but surely hugged my figure. We climbed up the stairs and made it into his living room.

With his help, I took off my jacket and purse and left them on the floor. I quickly cornered him against the couch and pushed him into it, climbing on his lap as I continued kissing him. In the light of our disagreement, and Andrew’s horrible drink, I realized all I really wanted was to be alone with him, and no one else. Spending every night at the bar, surrounded by people was fun, but what made it all worth it was knowing that after a few beers and some chatting with friends, we would come back to our little piece of heaven. I ran my hands through his hair and kissed him softly and slowly on the lips. His hands were wandering all around my body, making me feel safe and warm. I stopped and stared at him.

“Would you be so kind to explain to me what’s going on? Because I honestly can’t keep track anymore. And also, what’s that taste in your mouth?” he whispered, his breath shallow and husk. I laughed a little before rolling my eyes remembering the awful conversation with Andrew.

“I’m still trying to decipher whether if it’s a choice or not” I answered softly, he looked at me trying to understand my train of thought “getting swept away by this,” I added simply, gesturing at ourselves with my hands. “But one thing is damn certain” he raised an eyebrow “nothing safe is worth the drive” he let out a small puff of air and smiled running a hand through my hair.

“You talk in riddles, but I think I know what you mean” was all he said before we started kissing again, this time softly. We had had a fight, a disagreement; he had faced the emptiness of his bed and I had seen him walk away, making my heart break just a little. I put my hands on his arms and traced circles on his shoulders as he kept softly kissing my neck. After a few minutes he stopped to look at me rather concerned.

“Did that guy Andrew text you after all?” he asked intrigued. I let out a laugh far too loud for the hour, he was so fucking cute.

“Yes, but I didn’t answer” I replied honestly, Eugene released a sigh of relief “But,” I continued perking up his interest “just after you left me abandoned in that alley” I said pouting a little, making him smile “he decided to approach me,” I put a hand on my forehead dramatically, as I plumped myself on the couch. His hands on my waist, trying to hold me in place “and that weird taste in my mouth is the awful drink he bought me” I finished up my act and looked at him, smiling.

“Are you trying to make me jealous? Because it’s working. You won’t even let me buy you a drink!” he said propping himself on top of me, leaning down with his torso, looking into my eyes.

“Well, let me tell you caipiroskas are not my thing” I said poking him on the nose, we both laughed a little before I let out a sigh. “He was horrible, so horrible in fact I stood up in the middle of him giving a literal speech and came here running!” I put my hands on my face, laughing at the horror that small ‘conversation’ with Andrew had been.

“He was so horrible he sent you running to me?” Eugene asked perplexed, I nodded vigorously “Well, thank you Andrew!” he said loudly as he submerged his face in my neck, filling it with kisses. I couldn’t stop laughing hysterically, he really made everything better.

I abandoned all treacherous hope that we would leave each other’s hearts intact at the end of the summer. Dreaming of a good outcome seemed naïve and dumb, but for that moment I was happy in his arms, ignoring the imminent future.


	6. Cruel Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"
> 
> You can find visuals for this chapter here: rapunzelzz.tumblr.com/tagged/cruel-summer

I took a long, soothing shower and went to my bedroom hoping to lie down for a while before dinner, I was feeling rather exhausted because I had spent the entire day at the beach with Pascal. He inquired about my health, but I was able to calm his fears playing the PMS card and telling him I would be fine.

I lay in bed wrapped in my soft purple towel, enjoying the warm summer breeze coming from my window. I grabbed my phone to check Twitter and Instagram for a few minutes but before I could I found a rather cryptic message, coming for a very straightforward guy, already waiting for me: ‘ _Window at eight’_ was all the text said, I sighed looking at the ceiling and closing my eyes, smiling. I checked the time; it was 8:12 pm so I quickly got up from my bed.

As I walked to my window, I saw a small rock on the floor of my room. I got down to inspect it when a new one rolled next to my feet. I walked into my balcony, the sky was a beautiful pink hue mixed with light blues and oranges, the stars were starting to appear on their mantle.

“Are you coming down or what, Blondie?” I heard him whisper, sending shivers down my spine.

My instincts forced me to roll my eyes. “So romantic, Romeo. What happened to ‘It’s the East, and Juliet is the sun?’” I leaned into the corner rail of my balcony, looking for him.

“Oh, I see, so you want to Romeo me? Fine” With a huge and entirely mischievous smile, he started to climb the side of the house, helping himself with a vine my mother took lots of care of. “Hey, do you want to get us killed? My mom would literally sell me to a witch for that vine”

“And would the witch lock you up in a tower? Good thing I’m practicing my climbing then.”

“How did you walk in, exactly?” He had taken me quite by surprise, it was the first time he showed up at my house.

“There’s literally a garden gate next to those bushes” he said pointing to a corner in my parents’ backyard, it was quite impressive how he could support himself with only one hand, in the middle of a climb and not bat a single eye.

“Right, yes. I forgot about that. But why are you here, then?”

“I wanted to be with you” He answered simply as he reached the top, sending me one of those flashy smiles that made him look like a shiny toy I would beg my parents to buy me when I was little.

“So cheesy” I retorted smiling up at him, pretending I wasn’t swooning when in fact he was killing me slowly. 

“Let’s go to the fun fair” He declared as his feet landed with a loud thud on my balcony. That was completely new. There were many, many people that could see us there, so I looked up at him concerned. “Ah, c’mon, we can always say we’re cousins” he said chuckling.

“That’s disgusting; besides, many people know we’re not in fact cousins” I put my index finger on his chest, softly poking him. He grabbed me by the hand and pulled me close to him. I could feel the electricity surrounding us. He ran a finger through my cheek and let out a small sigh; I stood on my tiptoes and closed the distance between us. It was a quick kiss; we had made a pact a few nights before to greet and say goodbye to each other briefly because we did not know when to stop and our farewells were taking far too long, making him late for work. Those brief kisses however… God they were the most lustful kisses you could ever imagine. In those few seconds hands made their way to unholy places, hair was pulled and shirts were disarrayed, our hands wandered the shape of our still newly discovered bodies, tongues intertwined asking for more and teeth bit lips intensely if they ever tried to pull away a second earlier than what was allowed. Ten seconds later it was all over, it was cruel, but so far, our pact was working.

“So, the fun fair?” I asked as I rearranged my towel to prevent it from falling off “What brought this on?”

“Well, to be honest I haven’t been all summer and I’m tired of meeting Lance and Pascal at the same spot every night”

“You mean to tell me you’re tired of trying Pascal’s exquisite cocktails?” His face contorted with disgust at the thought of Pascal’s dreadful margaritas.

“C’mon Blondie, just one night, we can go to the pub after and pretend we met at the door” he begged, taking both my hands and looking into my eyes.

“Fine, fine, just wait for a few minutes I have to get ready” I walked back into my room and searched through my clothes for a dress and a light jacket. He leaned on the window pane and crossed his arms. The blue t-shirt he was wearing expanded as his biceps grew twice their usual size with the movement.

“You can leave your jacket here and I can lend you mine if you get cold…” he said innocently, turning his head to one side and smiling up at me. I rolled my eyes.

“Sure! That’s usual cousin behavior” I replied laughing as I walked behind my screen. I decided to put on a yellow wrap dress with white flowers in it, it was one of my absolute favorites and a trusty jean jacket to pair with my yellow vans. I put on some pink lipstick and mascara and was ready to go. “Okay, climb down now and wait for me outside the garden gate. I’ll go tell my parents I’ll have something to eat at the fair and I’ll meet you out in ‘5.”

He was quickly on the freshly mowed lawn and running towards the gate. I looked at myself on the mirror; and inspected my face one last time; my cheeks were sun kissed and my lips looked a bit swollen but the sun was not to blame for that. I ran down the stairs and informed my parents my plans for the evening, obviously avoiding mentioning the very attractive man waiting for me outside. I kissed them goodnight and for the one hundredth time that summer, the devil rolled his dice.

The summer breeze felt soothing against my skin, it was a warm evening. I took my denim jacket off as soon as we got to the fair. It was packed with people. Kids high-on-sugar were running everywhere, and parents were chasing them all over the place, trying to catch up with them. Both of us were hungry so we decided to have something to eat first. I got a cheeseburger at one of the trucks, and he opted for a hotdog. We ate our meals leaning against a food truck which was rather apart from the mainstream flood of people.

“So, what’s your Hogwarts house?” I asked before taking a mouthful of my burger.

He looked at me rather embarrassed. “I don’t know actually; I’ve never seen nor read Harry Potter” I had just taken a bite of my burger which meant I had to fight the urge to drop my jaw. I took a few moments to be done eating and continued.

“Okay, I’m a Ravenclaw, but I don’t think that means anything to you really” I replied laughing “Maybe later we can stop somewhere and you can take the sorting quiz. You don’t need to know the story to get sorted.”

“Of course, Blondie, sounds like fun” he added with a side smile which I tried to ignore, but suddenly he stopped and gave me a hurt look. “Wait a minute,” he said after finishing his meal “you know absolutely nothing about my life and your first question is ‘What’s your Hogwarts’ house?”

I looked at him a bit shocked. “Well, there’s a lot you can tell by knowing someone’s Hogwarts’ house to be honest” he crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.

“Where do I work?” he inquired sternly, I huffed.

“At the newspaper” I said proudly.

“Which one?” he added instantly. He caught me off guard. There were three newspapers in Corona, it could have been any of them, but I had to at least take a guess.

I looked at him as I doubtfully guessed “The Corona Times?”

“You guessed” was all he added, still with his arms crossed, his lips sealed.

“Well, was I right?” I asked biting my lower lip.

“No, I work at the Corona Chronicle” he retorted. I could hear a tint of annoyance in his voice, but I was pretty sure our small trivia game was all in good fun.

“Okay then,” I started “when’s my birthday?” I might have not known much about his life but he sure as hell did not know anything about mine.

“In two weeks,” he answered promptly, and damn it, he was right.

“Okay, and I’m turning…” I was guiding myself with stereotypes, men tended to forget these kinds of things all the time, but he proved me wrong again, making it obvious that he did not adhere to any clichés.

“22!” he opened his arms as if it was obvious.

“Alright!” I concluded “you know more about me than I do about you, what do you suggest we do about it?” he stopped to think for a few seconds.

“Let’s each ask the other 7 questions; you only get one pass” it sounded like a fun idea, but these kinds of games always made me really anxious when I was little, and the exact same thing was happening at the fair. He looked at me expectantly, I nodded. “Okay, I’ll start!” he said excitedly “What is one thing you would never do again?” My jaw dropped, that was a really specific, and kind of a difficult question to answer. And there I was thinking it would all be something easy like ‘what’s your favorite food?’ I closed my mouth and searched for an answer in my mind.

“I would never go to the movies to watch a horror film again” I shoot back.

“Oh,” he said with curiosity “too stressful?” he added.

“Deathly stressful” I stated smiling “That’s two questions! You only have 5 left!” I was proud of myself. He looked at me a bit vexed.

“Hey! Follow up questions don’t count!” was his lame excuse, but I wasn’t backing down.

“I’m sorry, that was not in the original rules you mentioned earlier.” I kept smiling, he was a sore loser, but a cute one nonetheless. “Okay, it’s my turn! What’s a pet peeve of yours?” I really liked that one, it was simple, yet specific.

“That’s an interesting question” he looked at me from the side as we kept walking and flashed a smile at me. “I’m gonna have to go with people who stand in front of doors, happens constantly at work, it drives me nuts”

“That’s fair, next one: do you have a middle name?”

“Why do you get two in a row!?” he looked at me pretending to be exasperated, but I could tell he was having fun. “You know what, it’s okay, ‘cause I’m gonna use my pass card with this one” he declared. So he did have a middle name.

“Oh gosh, it must be something horrible, like Chandler’s. I shall keep researching the subject” he let out a big laugh.

“Oh, good luck with that!” he said sarcastically, but I was going to get that name one way or another. “My turn again, no tricks this time! What’s something that really makes you angry?”

“That’s easy, when someone talks over me when I’m in the middle of a sentence, it infuriates me” just the thought of it happening made me want to scream.

“That’s tough” he admitted “game aside please, don’t steal any more of my questions, does it happen often?” I laughed at his precaution.

“Not really, it’s usually guys at college that do it, and some professors, but I’ve learned to simply ignore anything they say after interrupting me.” He looked at me nodding, “okay, third one, you’re stranded in a desert island and you can take only one thing with you, what do you take?”

He stopped for a few seconds, looking ahead. Suddenly, he exclaimed “Max!?” which I assumed wasn’t his answer. I followed his eyesight and found he was looking at a couple a few feet away from us, waiting in line for a game.

“Fitzherbert!?” the man in line shouted, just as excited as Eugene had. We walked till we were right in front of them.

“What are you doing here!?” Eugene asked while they shook hands and hugged each other. Both of them looked genuinely happy to see the other.

“I came to visit my family for a few days, oh right” Max said as he put an arm around the woman next to him “This is my girlfriend, Fidella.”

“Alright, yes!” Eugene promptly said shaking her hand, “I’ve seen you two together on Instagram, congrats!”

“Thanks” she said beaming. She had a beautiful smile, her blue eyes shrunk with it, making her look adorable. She had shoulder-long brunette hair and a beautiful olive skin tone. Max on the other hand, was extremely blonde and pale. They had one thing in common thou, they were immensely tall.

“She’s been brave enough to come and meet my parents” Max added laughing, Eugene joining him.

“You’re very brave indeed” Eugene declared looking at Fidella with a look that said Max’s parents were kind of intense. “This is Rapunzel,” Eugene suddenly brought me into the conversation “My… uh, friend” he said awkwardly, looking at me. Max laughed.

“Nice to meet you, Rapunzel. I’m Max, Eugene and I went to school together”

“Oh right! I’ve heard him and Lance talk about you at the pub! It’s really nice to meet you” I replied happily.

“How long are you staying?” Eugene inquired “You should go to the Gopher’s tonight! Lance’s working in the kitchens”

“Sure! Sounds like fun. We’re staying till Sunday, we took a couple days off work” Max told us, Eugene was thrilled.

“That’s great, I’ll come by your house tomorrow after work, I haven’t seen your folks in ages!”

“Absolutely! They’ll be so happy to see you! You can come too, of course Rapunzel”

Now that really took me by surprise! I laughed a little trying to calm off my nerves.

“Thank you for the invitation!” I said, but I couldn’t get the nerve to tell him I wouldn’t be attending.

Soon enough, and thankfully, their turn at the game arrived and we decided to keep walking around.

Going back to our game, Eugene said he would probably take a bookcase full of books to the island, but I counted that as cheating. Finally, he opted for his favorite book.

“Okay, then my next question is going to be: What’s your favorite book?”

“You’re running out of questions there, Blondie” he looked at me mischievously but I was honestly intrigued “’The Tales of Flynnigan Rider’ is my favorite book saga, and Flynnigan Rider and the Lost Treasure of Scotia is my favorite one of all”

“Oh, I remember those stories! I really liked the children adaptation when I was little”

“Yeah, well, I’ve read the actual books a million times, I don’t get tired of them. When we were teenagers, Max and Lance were obligated to call me Flynn” he confessed laughing, I laughed with him.

“Okay, it’s my turn, I get two questions in a row” we stopped in front of a vending machine, its glow softly gracing our faces “You can only eat one thing for the rest of your life, but it has to be something in here” he said pointing at the artifact in front of us “What do you choose?”

I got closer to the machine and inspected its snacks closely. It was full of your typical vending machine food, some M&Ms, Snickers, Little Bites etc., but the only thing that caught my attention was on the upper-left corner.

“Doritos, of course!” I announced decidedly.

“Cheese or Cool Ranch?”

“Is that your next question?” I asked, poking him in the arm.

“Yes” he replied rolling his eyes, but laughing afterwards.

“Cheese, obviously” I concluded. He put one hand in his pocket, reaching for his wallet and inserted a few papers inside the machine, choosing the cheese Doritos. He knelt down to reach the bag, and gave it to me, not without first pretending his hand was stuck for a few seconds, a really old joke I did not fall for. I thanked him for the snack and moved on to my next question.

“What’s your favorite meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner?” I opened the bag and offered him some.

“Oof, that’s a tough one, but I’ll go with the secret fourth option: brunch. Why? Because I get to have coffee and pancakes as well as bacon and eggs, it’s a win-win situation”

“That’s a solid answer, I’m impressed” I said as I munched some Doritos.

We decided to play some actual fun fair games for a change before finishing our game, and started to look at the many options around us. There was a fun house, which we decided was a no from the get go, too risky and private, we didn’t want to upset any children with the obvious making out session we would have there. I always found toss the ring boring and the one game with the water guns and the balloons had, for some inexplicable reason, a really long line. We later discovered it was because you could win a smart watch there. We kept walking along the streets and almost at the end of the fair, where almost no one was around, I saw it, a crane machine with the most beautiful plushies I had ever seen. There was one in particular, a chameleon, I instantly fell in love with.

“Oh gosh, that chameleon has to be mine!” I walked over to the machine, as excited as a little kid.

“Are you sure about that Blondie? Those machines are always rigged.” He asked with a rather concerned look on his face.

“I know! But I gotta try at least” I put the money in and the game started. I aimed the claw towards the chameleon, which was in a rather difficult position, but one of its paws was standing up, so I gathered that would be my move. The claw moved clumsily towards it, and once I was certain of my position, I pressed the button. It went down and to my surprise it grabbed the paw and lifted the plush up!

“Wow, I can’t believe you have it!” Eugene shouted excitedly next to me, but that’s when the claw gave up and the chameleon fell again into the pit. “Oh, spoke too soon, I guess.”

My face fell down, but I knew I would have to be crazy lucky to actually get it on the first try. Eugene saw the disappointment on my face.

“Okay,” he said, pulling up his sleeves, which was really funny because he was wearing a blue short sleeved t-shirt “It’s my turn now.”

He inserted the coins in the machine and its music got louder once again. The claw clumsily moved towards the chameleon, which had fallen completely on his back, making him a rather easy prey. Eugene pressed the button and the claw fell on the chameleon, this time grabbing him by his upper… paws?

I grabbed Eugene’s arm anxiously, I really wanted that stupid chameleon and he was getting it for me – could I have done it myself? Absolutely. Did I care? Not one bit, this was extremely sweet of him and I was enjoying myself too much.

The chameleon gravitated towards the hole and with one small thud, it fell.

“Yes!” I shouted while jumping up and down, still holding his arm. He was laughing loudly as I stepped aside and he knelt down to grab the prize. I extended my arms for him to give me the plush, but he looked at me and put the chameleon under his arm.

“I’m sorry, if I recall correctly, _I_ won this, it’s mine now.” He said looking at me mischievously.

“Oh, I see” I muttered smiling slyly, walking closer to him. He was grinning like a devil. “And what do I have to do to win it myself?” I put a finger on his chest and pushed him towards the wall where the crane machine was.

“Well, I can think of a few things you could do” He said leaning in closer and kissing the nape of my neck. I shivered under his lips. I pulled my head back to look at him still smiling like an idiot, so proud of having me cornering him like this and in public nonetheless. I could not resist it anymore so I closed the distance between us. I could feel he was still grinning when our lips touched, which made me smile as well. His free hand moved to grab mine, and with our intertwined hands he hugged me by the waist, keeping me close. The kiss was escalating, just like I imagined it would, but damn it, we had been teasing each other all night long and I was done. Good thing this crane was in a forgotten part of the fair, where not many people walked by, can’t imagine we were a picture suited for children at that point. He let go of my hand and put it on one of my shoulders, I put my right hand on his chest and my left one tangled in his hair. I bit his lower lip which caused him to moan softly, waking me from his spell. I decided it was probably time to stop and continue later. I looked up at him as my arms slowly hugged him around his shoulders, he put one hand on my waist. Our foreheads were touching and he was looking at me hungrily, but there was something else in his expression, something I couldn’t quite catch. He disentangled my left arm from his frame and grabbed my hand, kissing it before putting it on his chest. I could feel his accelerated heartbeat. My hand beneath his felt safe and warm. He leaned in my forehead again, our heads hanging low.

“Next question” he said softly “What happens if I tell you I think I’m falling in love with you?” he whispered closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. His heartbeat had somehow accelerated even more. I froze for a few seconds and opened my eyes to look at him, his eyes were closed. A blue feeling took over my body. We had been seeing each other for two weeks, and our time together felt like a breakable heaven, where no rules applied, but could he actually feel this way only two weeks in?

“I think you’ve got a fever,” I started, trying to make the situation a bit lighter “It’s like _we_ caught a fever. Everything between us is so intense.” I put my right hand on his cheek. He opened his eyes and stared at me, waiting for me to just cut to the bone, break his heart. However, I felt like I had to be honest as well, even thou every single voice in my mind was telling me to run away and never look back. “For whatever it’s worth, I think I’m falling for you too, ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?” I admitted, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled at me. “Next question, what do you think we should do about this?” he let go of the hand he was holding against his chest and leaned on the wall.

“Say that we’ll just screw it up and go on like this for the rest of the summer. Isn’t that what you wanted two weeks ago?” his answer made me laugh. What I wanted was so far gone I couldn’t even remember what it was anymore.

“Are you suggesting that in these trying times we don’t try at all?” I leaned next to him, and looked up at him. Angels must have rolled their eyes at us, we had been brave enough to admit our feelings but were just not brave enough to actually try to make them work.

“We’re on the same page” he said looking at me from over his shoulder, handing me the chameleon. I got on my tiptoes and gave him a small peck on the lips. He took my hand and we started walking around the fair again.

At around 11pm, we decided to head to the pub. When we arrived Max and Fidella were already there, talking with Lance.

We made our way to the counter, but I sensed something about the atmosphere was off. Eugene said hi to Pascal and proceeded to sit next to Max, who was happily talking to Lance about his new detective position at the precinct he worked in. Pascal seemed to be far more entertained cleaning his working space.

“Hi,” I said taking my usual spot but he barely even looked at me. “Is something wrong?” I inquired worriedly. Pascal was never this distant. He put his cleaning rag on his shoulder, and his hands on the counter.

“I don’t know, maybe I just found out my best friend is dating someone from two total strangers” he said looking intently at me. I closed my eyes; my lies had finally caught up with me.

“Pascal, I…” I started, trying to make up an apology in my mind. Looking at him so hurt really felt like a knife, a knife I had stabbed myself with like an idiot.

“No! It’s okay, I’m fine!” he said sarcastically but of course, it wasn’t true. How did I not see it coming that Max and Fidella would probably tell them they had seen us at the fair? “It’s great really, my best friend has been lying to my face for weeks now, making up excuses, worrying me about her health, when in fact she was just having sex with some dude she met at a bar” he was angry.

“I am an ass; I know but could you maybe not tell the entire bar about it?” Eugene was clearly listening; he gave me a ‘I’m sorry’ look and got back to his friends. “Look, you are right to be angry, and I’ve been a terrible friend. We were trying to keep it a secret, honestly.”

“But Lance knew! And these strangers know as well!” that did make me look bad “And damn it! I asked you at the beach and you lied to my face!?”

“Lance knew because he figured it out on his own, and we ran into Max and Fidella at the fun fair, I didn’t think they would tell!”

“So you were gonna come tonight and keep lying to my face, is that supposed to make me feel better?” I tried to reach for his hands, but he put them away from me. He was clearly not getting over this any time soon.

“No, I’m not saying that! Look, Eugene and I aren’t dating to be exact, we’re kind of fooling around and I didn’t want anyone to know because I didn’t like the idea of people talking about it. Sorry I chose to keep it a secret from you as well, it was shitty of me.” I looked at him, tears were starting to form in my eyes, I would probably start crying like a baby if things got worse. I had been lying to him for two weeks, and I felt horrible each time I did, but how could I explain him that? “I felt like the only way to keep him was to keep what we were doing a secret, that way no one would get involved and I didn’t want you to get hurt again because of my messy relationships”

He huffed. “Don’t try to make this about me, okay?” he put a hand on his chest and looked around the room, trying to shake off his anger. “Did he make you do this? Was he the one who told you to lie to your best friend?”

“No, it was all my idea. I was the evil one.” I was looking at the floor, too ashamed of my actions to even look him in the eye. “If anything, Eugene wanted to tell you, he said I was over-complicating things by lying… boy was he right” I put my arms around my figure. I was feeling worse about my actions by the second.

Pascal gave me a look of total disbelief while shaking his head. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

“I am in no way over this, damn it, I’ll probably be mad for years” he said massaging his temple “but you’re my best friend and I forgive you” I finally looked up at him.

“Thank you,” was all I said before tears starting falling down my cheeks. He handed me a napkin and leaned over the counter to give me a hug.

“It’s okay” I heard him say while he hugged me “But you’re gonna have to spill the tea tomorrow at the beach and promise to never lie to me again” I laughed. I loved him so much, I didn’t know what I would do without him. He let go of me and I looked at him, tears still falling.

“I promise” he smiled; he knew I never broke my promises. “But you have to promise to stop giving my number to strangers!” I added right back, he threw his head back in laughter.

“I understand now why you were so annoyed, won’t happen again, I promise” he put his right hand on his heart and crossed the fingers on his left hand.

After I calmed myself, he made me a tequila sunrise and I joined Eugene with his friends. Lance and Pascal came over to talk to us when their hands were free.

Max took us to Eugene’s place at around 3am because we had had too much to drink. We were drunk in the back of the car when Eugene whispered into my ear: “I’m really glad we’re not keeping secrets anymore” his breathing tickled me and the movement of the car together with the alcohol in my blood, made everything feel like a haze. In the midst of it all I somehow smiled at him and kissed his cheek.


	7. 22 / All Too Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy, free, confused...  
> I walked through the door with you, the air was cold...
> 
> You can find visuals for this chapter here: https://rapunzelzz.tumblr.com/tagged/22-all-too-well

Summer was quickly passing us by, and I was enjoying myself too much. Eugene and I were keeping things casual, but now he took every chance he had to grab my hand in public or get close, really close to me at the bar. I, on the other hand, used this as an opportunity to poke him on the nose constantly and touch his hair, something he enjoyed thoroughly. According to Pascal we were disgusting, especially when we kept fighting over everything but instantly forgetting about it because one of us would either kiss or tickle the other. Lance was glad for us and happy he didn’t have to keep secrets anymore. Max and Fidella returned to the bar each night during their visit to play cards and have some laughs, but eventually they had to return to the city.

My favorite part about summer so far was waking up every day in his bed, to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and him reading the newspaper next to me, in his pajamas. The familiarity of it all made me think about past mistakes and how I wouldn’t make them ever again, and that the enchanting thing about summer was that sooner or later it would end, and with it so would our love. The imminent ending of everything we had was what made it so utterly addictive, the thought of not waking next to him made each kiss more passionate, each touch ten times more intense and each morning important. Our time was short, we had to make the most of it. And so, the days came to pass, and with each one I felt my heart slowly start to crush, knowing perfectly well that with every second that passed it was closer and closer to being broken.

We were at the Gopher, having our usual drinks when someone dimmed down the lights and Lance came barging in through the kitchen door with a cake on his hands. Suddenly everyone started singing happy birthday to me. I put my hands on my face, feeling a bit embarrassed by the situation, but laughing loudly as Lance set the cake in front of me, with so many candles on it I thought the smoke alarm would go off. I hadn’t been checking the hour and midnight had caught me by surprise. I was 22 years old, how magical! Lance set the cake in front of me so that I could blow out the candles, not without first making my birthday wish, I made the same one every year: _‘I wish for all of my dreams to come true’_ I murmured under my breath and blew the 22 candles. Lance proceeded to cut the cake and give a piece to us and everyone else at the pub who wanted one, it was on the house.

I was recovering from blowing out the candles when Pascal gave me a small box with a big bow on it. I inspected it curiously before opening it. My face light up when I saw what it was.

“Do you like it?” I heard him say anxiously.

“Like it? I love it, Pascal! It’s beautiful!” I leaned on the counter and hugged him tight. Pascal always knew exactly what to get me. This year he had given me the most gorgeous earrings I could have asked for: a golden palette holding some brushes. They were extremely delicate and so well thought of, I was in awe. “Thank you so much!” I let go of my hug and returned to my stool.

Eugene was eating a piece of cake when Lance showed up again.

“How you like the cake?” Lance asked me smiling.

“It’s delicious, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a wonderful birthday cake, thank you so much for this.” I replied before taking a bite. It was a cake made entirely of chocolate, its batter, its filling and even its icing.

“Glad you like it, princess” he winked at me, which made Eugene look at him warily, which in turn made me laugh. Lance was always such a good mood setter, it came to him so naturally, I admired it. “So, what’d you get her?” he asked looking at Eugene.

“I don’t have my present with me” Eugene crossed his arms and looked at Lance threateningly for putting him on the spot.

“Oh! Looks like I’m winning” Lance added and winked at me again. Eugene’s jaw dropped, and I had to cover my mouth before a piece of cake fell out of it for laughing so hard. After I recomposed myself, I looked at Eugene, who was still staring at Lance menacingly.

“It’s alright, Eugene. You don’t have to get me anything” I told him reassuringly.

“I already have your present,” he said looking at me a bit offended “you don’t think I just wouldn’t get you anything, right? I’m not a monster!” he grabbed one of my hands and left a small kiss in my palm, I smiled softly at him “It’s waiting for us at home.” He finished simply.

“Oh, okay then!” I could feel my face turn a shade of pink, _‘waiting for us at home’_ I replayed his words in my mind, a sweet warmth surrounded my entire body, there was something so intimate about that phrase, it was new and unexpected. I worried about my poor crushing heart.

As per usual, at around 3am we left the bar and started walking towards Eugene’s place. I grabbed him by the arm and lay my head against his shoulder. The breeze was cold, it was my birthday’s curse: it may be during the summer, but the weather would always be a bit cold on my name day.

“So, what did you wish for?” he asked kissing the top of my head as we were walking. I shivered, not because of the cold, but because his kiss made me feel safe and sound, a soft warmth trailed my entire body, it was new and exciting and I didn’t want it to go away. I suddenly understood that nothing wrong could happen as long as he was next to me, and that scared me a little bit, knowing well enough we were meant to fall apart. I tried to put my worries in the back of my mind for the moment and smiled at his silly question.

“You know I can’t tell you. It won’t come true!” I looked up at him laughing “but I can tell you I wish for the same thing every year” I said proudly.

“Really? That’s kinda cool, I usually panic and ask for something stupid.”

“Like what?” I was intrigued, what on earth could he wish for.

“Well,” he said as he put one hand in his pocket, shrugging a little “Last year I wished for a bike. I don’t even know where that came from, I don’t want a bike.” I started laughing loudly and the tipsiness I was experiencing didn’t help at all to calm the laughs.

“Oh gosh, just like” I had to pause to breathe “just like a six -year-old!” I was laughing so much I had to grab my stomach because it was starting to hurt. He looked at me a bit surprised probably because he didn’t find it that funny, but I just couldn’t stop picturing Eugene and a new shiny kiddy sized bike.

We arrived to his place and walked inside, he went into his room while I took off my jacket and left it on the coat hanger. He returned with a small box in his hands. I looked at him a bit shocked, I could feel my checks turning red.

“I know we said this was only going to be a summer thing, but I saw this at the store and it really made me think of you, and I just had to get it. So… happy birthday” he looked a bit embarrassed confessing how his feelings had caught him off guard, I smiled at him as he handed me the box. It was wrapped in a beautiful soft pink paper and a small bow decorated one of its corners. I inspected it closely, a bit of shock still running through my veins. I gasped when I opened it, it was a gorgeous necklace with a golden sun charm. It was one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry I had ever received in my life. I was speechless because I did not imagine he would be that thoughtful on my present.

“I-“ I tried to formulate but immediately covered my mouth with a hand, I still couldn’t process the beautiful present in front of me. “This is so incredibly sweet, Eugene, thank you so much” I looked up at him trying to express my gratitude. I walked up to him and hugged him tight. He put his arms around me and kissed me on the top of my head and again that warm, safe feeling invaded my entire body. I let go a bit and looked up at him, kissing him softly. After a few seconds I gave him the necklace, turned around and pulled my hair all to one side. He easily understood I wanted his help to put it on. He unlocked the chain and set it around my neck. I felt the cold metal caress my skin as he locked it behind my back. I put up a hand to feel the charm against my softly tanned skin, I was considering going to the bathroom and taking a closer look when I felt his lips slowly leave a trail of kisses on the base of my neck. I shivered under his touch and turned around putting my arms on his shoulders, my hands easily finding their way to his hair and my lips to his lips.

“I’m glad you like it” he murmured softly against my lips, making me smile. I grabbed his hand and guided us towards his room, ready to spend the night together. So far, my 22nd birthday was on my top 5 of best birthdays ever.

I woke up that Saturday morning to the smell of his freshly brewed Colombian coffee and a complete breakfast in bed. He had set a tray next to me on the bedside table and sat on the bed, the sunlight coming through his window made the entire scene look like it was from a movie.

“Good morning, sunshine” he leaned down to kiss me. I was still trying to process everything that was going on, but I took this opportunity with him so close to me, to put my arms around him and keep him in place, kissing me. “Happy birthday” he murmured against my lips. I smiled as I ran my hands through his arms. I was happy. God, I couldn’t recall a more blissful time in my life. He rolled to the other side of the bed and waited for me to sit a bit more upright so that we could actually start eating our breakfast.

I put the tray on my lap and inspected everything in it. There were two mugs of coffee, a plate with some pancakes and, next to my cup, a cupcake with pink frosting. I grabbed it happily and started eating it, sharing it with him.

“This is A-MA-ZING” I said after taking a mouthful, the pink cream was soft and sweet, but not sweet enough to make you want to stop eating “where did you get this?” I was genuinely intrigued; I had never had such an amazing cupcake.

“From Attila the Bun, that baker is on a whole other level,” he said taking a sip of his coffee and grabbing the tv remote control.

“Well, this cupcake right here is my new favorite thing in the world” I kept eating it happily. He turned on the tv and opened Netflix. We spent the rest of the morning watching our favorite movies and enjoying the other’s company.

As I was about to leave his place to return home, my parents were certainly waiting for me, I felt my heart crush again. I was so incredibly happy in that apartment that the thought of going away broke me a little. I walked to the door but before I stepped outside, I turned around to look at Eugene. He was smiling at me. I put my arms around him and kissed him intensely on the lips.

“Thank you so much for all of this” I was in my tiptoes looking up at him, he leaned down and our foreheads touched.

“Anything for you, Blondie” he said closing his eyes. We stood there a couple of seconds, taking in the other’s perfume. We were beyond the point of no return. I gathered the strength to turn around and walk home. My poor crushing heart was slowly breaking.

I arrived at my house a few minutes later, my parents were waiting for me in the garden. They had set a beautiful table under a shade, with our lunch already on it.

“Happy birthday, darling!” my father exclaimed as he walked up to me and gave me a big bear hug. I hugged him back. My mom was in the back of the garden, cutting some flowers, she started to make her way towards us.

“Thanks, dad. Sorry for being so late today” I said sheepishly, he smiled at me.

“That’s alright, sweetheart. We thought Pascal would be coming with you, since he always has lunch with us on your birthday!” I looked up at him shocked. I had forgotten that I was supposed to be with Pascal, and I had clearly forgotten to tell him to meet me at my house for lunch! I would have to come clean to my parents about Eugene as well! But I honestly didn’t want to! They would probably get all excited and would want to meet him and then I would probably have to explain to them that what we’re doing is nothing too serious but then they would ask me if it’s not serious then why do I spend so much time with him, and _ugh_ I was caught between a rock and a hard place. My dad was staring at me, he could probably see my mind going fifty miles a second and wondered what was going on.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart! These are for you” my mom had caught up with us, she handed me a bouquet of flowers from her garden, there were some daisies, morning glories, salvias and honesties, and of course, some rapunzels. It was absolutely gorgeous.

“Mom, these are so incredibly beautiful, thank you so much” I said hugging her tight. She always gave me flowers for my birthday, once they dried, I used them to make crafts and paintings, and gave them to her as a present. It was a sweet tradition.

“I was just asking her about Pascal, it’ll be weird without him here” dad chimed in, bringing me back to reality.

“Oh, yes! Is he still sleeping, darling?” asked my mom. I looked at them anxiously, trying to formulate an answer that would make sense. They looked at each other and shook their heads knowingly “We know you’re seeing someone; you can stop now with the excuses” she said putting a hand on my shoulder. My jaw dropped; I was at a loss of words.

“How-“ I tried to formulate “How do you know?” I was having trouble processing everything that was going on.

“Attila the baker told us,” my dad continued “he told us he was very happy to see you and this young man together, of course he thought we already knew, so it was all in good fun. You better put those in some water now” he pointed at the bouquet still in my hands. I obeyed immediately because I did not know how to operate.

“Wait, so you’ve known for how many days now?” I said looking for a vase to put the flowers in.

“We’ve known for weeks!” mom replied laughing, “honey, we understand if you don’t want to talk to us about these things, but there’s no need to lie about them, alright?” she said putting a hand on my cheek, smiling sweetly. I sighed.

“I know, but wait, do you know who I’m seeing?” had the baker told them everything? It’s a good thing he made the best cupcakes in the world, otherwise I would had already been on my way to hit him on the head with a frying pan.

“The baker told us his name is Eugene, and that he is a really nice young man who works at the Corona Chronicle” answered my dad simply. Great, they knew everything. Serves me right for trying to keep things secret in such a small town, I guess.

“Honey, you’re old enough to do these sorts of things and we’re alright with them, but why did you feel the need to hide this from us?” my mom kept making difficult questions.

“Well,” I started trying to gather my thoughts, it would be better if I just was honest with them “the thing is that we are not really certain where things are going and I didn’t want to make a fuzz about it, so I decided it was best just to keep it to myself for a while” my parents gave me a funny look.

“But you’re spending every night together” mom said matter-of-factly.

“We are! But you know… it’s summer, I have to leave in a few weeks, we didn’t want to get too involved” they kept looking at me rather funnily, suddenly my mom pointed at Eugene’s present.

“That’s a nice necklace, who gave it to you?” I put my hand on the sun charm, and she smiled deviously, that told me everything I needed to know. She was trying to make me reconsider my previous answer. I rolled my eyes.

“We are certain you know what you’re doing, sweetheart. But you can trust on us to tell us these things, we won’t judge” was all my father added. I smiled at them as I set my flowers on the table, and we all sat to have a birthday lunch together.

“Thank you for understanding, now can we please talk about something else?” they laughed loudly and proceeded to give me another present, this time it was inside a medium sized box, wrapped in purple paper, with a pink bow on it. I unwrapped it and saw a beautiful notebook. On its cover there was a forest, full of drawings in black and white, except for a deer and some tree leaves which were golden. It was called “Enchanted Forest Notebook” It was such a thoughtful and wonderful present. “Oh wow” I said still scanning the book with my hands, “this is beautiful! Thank you so much!” I stood up and hugged them tightly. They really were the best parents in the world.

“We know how much you love journaling and drawing; I saw you’re about to finish the one you have now, we saw this one at the store and immediately thought of you” mom told me as I kept hugging her.

“Well, you’re absolutely right, mom. I love it, thank you” I gave them a kiss on the cheek and sat back in my chair, ready to finish our lunch. Assessing my birthday once more, it was definitely still in my top 5, thou my heart was still pounding because of my parents’ surprise.

The day was beautiful, but the breeze was cold and the beach would probably be freezing cold, so in the afternoon Pascal and I went to the park and later we decided to indulge the child inside of us and went to the arcade. We returned home at around 7 and I went up to my room to take a nap. So far, the day had been amazing, all of my presents were gorgeous and my mood was up on the roof. I closed my eyes and quickly dozed off.

I woke up an hour later and checked my phone, there were many text messages from my classmates, friends in the city and family members. But one in particular made my heart sink.

  * _Happy birthday, Raps. Hope it’s a good one._



I considered answering, but assumed it was best to ignore it, the day had been wonderful so far, I didn’t want to ruin it thinking about what to answer. I concluded I would answer her the next day and went down stairs to have dinner with my parents.

At around 11 I headed to the pub, ready to end my birthday on a high note having fun with my friends. I was about to sit in my usual place when someone grabbed me from behind and started kissing my neck. I laughed loudly.

“How’s the birthday girl?” Eugene asked as I turned around ready to kiss him. I put my arms around him and stood on my tiptoes as I left as soft kiss on his lips.

“She’s great, it’s been a good day” he leaned down, our foreheads touching. He looked at my chest, where his present shined and a big smile took over his face. I kissed him on the cheek and proceeded to sit down.

I thought about our morning together and how happy he had made me. I grabbed his hand and lay a soft kiss on his palm. “Thank you, for today” I whispered leaning closer to him.

“I told you already,” he started lowering his head and looking me in the eyes “anything for you, Blondie.” He left a small peck on my lips and we continued with our night.

About half an hour later, we were having our usual drinks and playing Jenga with some bar regulars when I saw her come in. She was wearing a grey bengaline jacket, a maroon shirt, and black pants and boots. I looked at her shocked, I was not expecting to see her, least of all on my birthday. Suddenly I felt bad for not answering her message. Eugene stared at me a bit confused. Pascal was absolutely livid, but said nothing when she approached us.

“Hey,” she said leaning on the counter, “happy birthday” she smiled at me a bit shyly.

“Thanks,” was all I could answer. Eugene was silently observing the situation unfold in front of him.

“What are you doing here?” Pascal interfered suddenly, letting a bit of anger show in his voice.

“It’s her birthday, I wanted to come see her, is that a crime?” Cass was as adamant as always.

“We talked about this” Pascal kept looking at her intently, I didn’t want them to fight on my birthday, so I decided to intercede.

“What have you been up to?” I asked Cass as happily as I could, trying to ease the atmosphere.

“Not much really” she smiled at me, happy that I was being civil I suspect. “Could we go outside for a bit? I wanna talk to you about something” I looked at her suspiciously, I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but I made the decision to trust her and went out with her. I could see Pascal fuming as we walked to the door.

We sat in one of the outside tables, my back to the door of the pub. The air was cold, as per usual on my birthday night. I looked at her expectantly.

“How have you been?” she asked smiling softly, putting her elbows on the table.

“Good, I’ve been good. You know, painting, going to the beach” couldn’t tell her much more to be honest “what about you? When did you get back from the city?” As far as I knew, Cass had stayed in the city because she had found a job at a legal study.

“I’m only here for the weekend. I wanted to see you, Pascal told me to leave you alone, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you and your birthday coming up… I got you a present” She reached into her purse and handed me a medium sized box, wrapped in a beautiful shade of purple. I opened it to find a brand-new set of brushes. I smiled. “I know how fast you wear them out” she gave me a shy smile.

“Thank you, this is great” I was truly grateful, it was a very nice present.

“I miss you…” she confessed suddenly and I sighed, looking at her somberly. I knew this would happen. “I miss you so much, and I know we hurt each other” she went on “Pascal has been trying to stop me, but I can’t keep quiet anymore.” I kept looking at her “I came here to ask you if we could give this another chance.” She put his chair closer to mine and reached out to grab my hands. I took a deep breath.

“Cass, I’ve missed you too, a lot. But I don’t think that’s wise” I told her truthfully “I don’t know if being in a relationship is what I want.”

“We can take it slow! As slow as you want this time, we don’t have to move in together, we don’t have to reach that level of commitment right away. It was a mistake the last time, and I regret it. You were right in ending it, we would have resented each other eternally had it gone on”

“But Cass, I don’t know, this is too confusing, we were such a mess” I let go of her hands, trying to gather my thoughts in order to search for an answer. Being this close to her made me realize how much I had missed her, how much I enjoyed her company, how good our friendship was before we tore it all up with our explosive feelings.

“I still love you, I keep thinking I’m going to get over you but it’s been more than half a year, and each day I wake up and wish you were there with me” she was looking at me intensely “I don’t know if you’ve felt the same, but if there’s a chance that you have… I hope you can give us another chance.” She put a hand on my cheek and smiled at me, “I keep thinking about all of our road trips and how you always make the best out of every situation, like when we ran out of gas just a few miles before Equis and you somehow got an entire band of bikers to help us out, even against my will.” I let out a small laugh, remembering our adventure. “You’re so amazing, you help me see the good in people, and I want that in my life. I need that back in my life” I smiled at her, in a lot of ways we were the different sides of the same coin, and I missed her snarky remarks and dry sense of humor, when we weren’t fighting, we made such a good team, it was unfair things had gotten so bad between us.

“Cass…” she closed the distance between us, she caught me by surprise, but her I knew her kiss all too well. I closed my eyes and lost myself in her for a moment, trying to understand my feelings. I still felt love for her, but was it the same kind of love she felt? And would it be enough to mend this immense wound we had left in the other? I wasn’t sure, if anything I was more confused than ever before. After a few seconds we separated and looked at each other. She put a hand on my cheek, smiling at me. That’s when I heard the door of the pub open and then close loudly, but could not turn around to look who had been the culprit.

“I really missed that” she gave me a peck on the lips, I let out a small laugh. “Look, you don’t have to decide now, I know that’s crazy and I don’t want to put pressure on you. Just think about it, okay? I’ll be in the city.” She stood up “I better leave you now, I’ve barged in enough on your birthday, I’m sorry if I made things awkward” I smiled up at her.

“It’s okay, thank you again for the present” I said standing up as well. “I better go inside now; Pascal must be furious” we laughed a bit about Pascal’s raging anger.

“Yeah, I’d say goodbye, but I fear he might kill me if I get too close.” With that she got closer to me once again and gave me another kiss before turning around and leaving.

I stood there for a few seconds, trying to gather my thoughts. I didn’t know what I was supposed to feel, seeing her again had brought back so many memories of the good days, when we used to loudly sing in her car, dancing at midnight in front of the refrigerator light. I didn’t feel fine, my stomach was turning itself inside out, I remembered it all, and for quite some time it had been so good between us. I didn’t know what to do.

I grabbed my present and walked into the bar again. I reached the counter and looked around; I could not see Eugene anywhere, maybe he was in the restroom. Pascal was still fuming, I looked at him trying to calm him down.

“Pascal… It’s not that big a deal” I assured him, trying to reach his hand, but he moved it before I could grab it.

“I’m tired of this, I’m tired of you two hurting each other” he said darkly “I’m tired of being in the middle of this situation, and I’m tired of you two ignoring everything I say” I kept looking at him, he was right to be angry at us, we had caused him enough grief.

“I know, Pascal… I’m sorry”

“No! You know nothing apparently. You were toxic, both of you. You were so distant it was cruel and she was so obsessed with you... It was difficult to watch you fall apart, but I was glad when you ended it, I thought _finally!_ At least you had been sensible enough to see the damage your relationship was causing the two of you” he sighed “and now she comes around and you fall at her feet? Were you not the one bored out of your wits?” he was disappointed.

“She caught me by surprise, my guard was down!” I was trying to make a case for myself, but I must I admit I knew I was being an idiot “look, I’m really confused. Seeing her brought back memories, but that does not mean we’re getting back together, Pascal. I have to think things through.” He looked at me beaten and sighed. “Where’s Eugene?” he should have been back from the restroom by then. Pascal looked at me a bit worried.

“He saw you kissing, he looked a bit distraught. He put on his jacket and left almost immediately.” I stood up and looked at him full of concern.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner!? Where did he go!?” I put on my jacket and started heading to the door when Pascal grabbed me by the arm and turned me around.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but be careful of what you’re going to do next, you don’t want to keep breaking hearts” he looked at me gravely and I nodded, knowing he was absolutely right.

On my way to Eugene’s house I tried to think of what I was going to say. Was he angry I had kissed Cassandra? Did he even know who she was? We hadn’t talked about our ex’s yet; I wasn’t sure we were going to have that talk at all. I picked up my step and I quickly found myself in his front door. I couldn’t knock, but sending him a message felt stupid and childish. I picked up a small pebble from the side of the street and softly swung it to his bedroom window. I waited a few seconds, but his curtains did not move. I picked up another pebble and swung it again, hoping he would just come out, but I got nothing again. I waited five minutes, and finally, I texted him.

  * _Hey, can we talk?_



I hit the ‘send’ button and waited a few more minutes. Suddenly, I saw the ‘online’ below his name and my heart started pounding.

  * _I need time to think._



I felt my heart sink. I needed to know I would see him again, I needed to know everything would be alright between us, I needed to know my heart wouldn’t break sooner than anticipated.

  * _Okay, see you tomorrow?_
  * _See you, Blondie_ _😊_



His last message gave me some hope that perhaps, just perhaps, everything was okay. Maybe he was just a bit shocked and needed time to reassess his feelings in order to go on, which was good. I had three more weeks before I had to leave for the city, I didn’t want to say goodbye so soon. I gave one last look at his window and started to walk home.

I walked into my room and saw the chameleon he had gifted me on my bed. I climbed into it, under the covers and hugged the plushie, I could feel the tears slowly falling down my cheeks. For the first time that summer I was sleeping alone in my bed, after plaid shirt nights when he had made me happy, I had walked home alone. The warmth I had felt the previous night had completely faded away, and I feared it would never come back. This birthday wouldn’t make it into my top 5 after all.


	8. The Last Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last time I'm asking you why  
> You break my heart in the blink of an eye...

I watched them walk to the door and looked intrigued at Pascal, who had a dreadful expression of hatred on his face. I wondered why Pascal seemed so put off by her arrival. Rapunzel and the new girl whose name I did not know yet, sat in one of the tables outside.

“Um, what happened there?” I asked Pascal, he clearly knew what it was all about. He shook his head and sighed.

“That’s Cassandra” he said still fuming, but I couldn’t follow his train of thought. Was I supposed to know who she was? I looked at him puzzled “If you two haven’t had that talk yet, then I don’t think it’s my place to tell you” he continued, I frowned worriedly.

“Should I be concerned?” I looked at them sitting outside, Rapunzel was opening a present. Pascal was also staring; I could hear his breathing over my shoulder “why are you so angry?” I turned to look at him, he sighed again.

“Cassandra is her ex, and a friend of mine. They broke up like 6 months ago, but Cass hasn’t let go yet. Rapunzel was doing great, but I don’t like this. Their relationship was…” he took a deep breath “messy” he finished gravely.

Well, that was more concerning than what I had anticipated. Ex-lovers suddenly barging in hardly meant anything good for our current situation. Maybe she would simply cut her off, Pascal did mention Rapunzel was not having a hard time with the breakup, and I imagined our summer fling had something to do with that. My curiosity caught me off guard, I knew staring at them through the window was wrong, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Rapunzel’s figure. They were just talking, but at some point, someone had reached for the other’s hand. I shifted anxiously in my seat, the scene was slowly making me more and more uncomfortable. Suddenly, Cassandra moved her chair closer to Rapunzel and kissed her. I kept staring for a few seconds, apparently Rapunzel had been caught by surprise, just like me, but then she leaned into the kiss. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. Pascal grunted behind me, as he put his hands on his face.

“I fucking knew it!” he said angrily “they’ll drive me insane; I swear.”

I felt like I had swallowed a rock, I felt my knees bend even thou I was sitting and I could feel a knot in my throat. I put on my jacket and headed for the door without even saying goodbye. I walked out and left the door to close on its own. I needed to get home; my mind was going 100 miles a second. Was I jealous? I couldn’t exactly pin point what I was feeling, as it always happened when it came to Rapunzel. Was I mad that someone else had kissed her? Was I mad that she had actually kissed Cassandra back? Was I even mad?

As soon as I got home, I turned on the shower and took off my clothes. I looked at myself in the mirror, my head was starting to hurt from frowning so much. I massaged my eyes and grabbed the bridge of my nose, trying to relax my muscles. My jaw was stiff, my teeth were clenched. Maybe I was angry. The place was already filling up with steam so I jumped under the hot water. The heat usually helped me clear off my mind.

What had happened at the bar? I replayed the entire sequence in my head. Cassandra walking in, Pascal’s anger, Rapunzel’s smile… I still couldn’t understand my emotions. My stomach had turned inside out when I saw them kissing. Was I disappointed? Was I expecting her to just be with me for the entire summer? We had never talked about exclusivity, but considering we had been spending all nights and mornings together it was hard to imagine she would be seeing someone else on the side. I could still feel a lump in my throat and it was getting hard to breathe, maybe it was the steam, I got out of the shower, put a towel around my waist and walked into my dark room.

As I lay in my bed, I put my hands in my face and sighed. I thought about the previous night and how happy we had been, how much she had liked her present and how surprised she was with her breakfast in bed. It was a complete state of happiness, I couldn’t recall a more blissful time in my life than those past few weeks with her by my side. The room felt much wider and colder without her in it. I cursed myself, everything was going so well I had been stupid enough to let myself think it would stay that way forever, I had let myself think she was happy with me too. How quickly and easily it all had crumbled in my mind. Sadness took over my body. I wasn’t angry because she had kissed someone else, I was sad because I wanted to be the only one who kissed her.

I grabbed my phone to look at the hour, but I found a message already waiting for me.

  * _Hey, can we talk?_



I did not feel like talking, I wanted to drown in my own sorrow for a little while. I wanted to bask in my own stupidity for having put myself in this situation. I wasn’t sure if she wanted to end things once and for all or if she wanted to explain herself. Either way, I knew that what I wanted was off the table. It had been off the table as soon as our lips touched that first night under the porch of her house, when sparks flew everywhere.

  * _I need time to think._



I needed to think because my heart was aching. I needed to think because I did not want to let her go once summer was over. I needed to think because I was madly in love with someone who was not willing to take the fall with me, and that was breaking my heart.

  * _Okay, see you tomorrow?_



I wished she was there with me, I wished I could just ignore everything that had happened, but the situation had opened my mind to the rawest of feelings inside me. I wished summer was infinite, that way goodbye wouldn’t be an option.

  * _See you, Blondie_ _😊_



I felt my heart sink as I typed that stupid smiley emoji, because I wanted to run to her and tell her just how sad I was, certain that she would make me feel better with just one touch. I turned around in my bed, covering myself with my thin summer blanket, and staring at her side of the bed. I could feel my chest swelling and my muscles tensing, I could feel that imminent urge to cry. I tried to calm myself down but the tears started flowing anyway, staining the sheets. I tossed and turned in bed all night, trying to compose myself. I thought about our first night together, how I had warned her about love being ruthless and how she had wisely told me that it was, unless you put the rules on the table. How she had sensibly asked me not to fall in love with her and how I had made no such promise. She had her own set of rules and I hadn’t been paying close enough attention. Of course, this thirst for a ‘summer fling’ as she had called it came from a failed relationship. It made so much sense that she was healing from a broken heart, trying to prevent getting hurt again. But there were still things that did not make sense in my mind, why had she been so secretive at first? Why was she so against relationships in general? What had happened with Cassandra that would lead her to look for something so uncommitted? I needed answers, I had to talk to her. And I would, as soon as I slept some of my sadness off. I closed my eyes and a few minutes later, I fell asleep.

I woke up on Sunday morning and for a few seconds I had forgotten about the previous night. I clumsily stretched my arms towards Rapunzel’s side of the bed and felt my hear sink when I realized she wasn’t there. I sighed and buried my face in my pillow, making a horrible grunting sound because of the frustration.

I decided to get up quickly, if I stayed in bed a bit longer, I would probably get lost inside my mattress, slowly sinking in a pit of depression. I knew myself too well to allow that, so I stood up, got dressed and made some coffee. I went down and had lunch with my father, as I did every Sunday and helped him out with his birds. It was during the afternoon that I decided I had to come up with a plan, or at least some talking points but first I needed to know what I wanted.

“What do I want?” I whispered to myself a few times, trying to make sense of my problems. Did I want a relationship? Not exactly. I mainly did not want to end things when she got back to the city, maybe a relationship was too much for now, but who knew where things would lead us? I wanted a chance, I wanted to try.

She would be far away in the city, thou. That made things more difficult for me, but maybe not entirely. She clearly needed her space and was not ready to commit to something serious, maybe being in a long-distance ‘relationship’ would be good for her, take things slow. Sure, she had to want it first, but well… I had to try.

“Horace, could you help me with something in the garden?” I heard my dad shout from outside. I made up my mind that I would climb up her balcony as soon as gardening with my father was done.

* * *

I was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and sighing time after time, running my hand over the sun charm on my chest, thinking over and over again about the previous night. I couldn’t stop thinking about Eugene, I was worried about his reaction, I wondered what went through his mind when he saw me and Cass together. I wondered if it was anger, disappointment or heartbreak that had led him to leave the pub entirely. I also pondered about my own feelings, how desperate I felt when I found out he had left, how I had cried myself to sleep thinking about how much I missed his warmth, his perfume, his arms. I asked myself what was going to happen next. Would he come to me or would I have to reach out to him? Would my heart break sooner than I had expected?

And then there was Cassandra and our messy relationship. I tried to think about her proposal but my mind kept going back to Eugene. I kept forcing myself to think about starting over, being her friend again, getting back together but it was no use… I missed her, for sure. But I did not want our relationship back. In fact, I did not want a relationship and that was final. Sure, I was falling for Eugene, I admitted that much, but how long would it last? How long could I lie to myself that things would work? I just simply wasn’t up to it, I didn’t feel like trying, no matter the aching my heart would suffer went I left, no matter how much my emotions might have tried to convince me that this was it, that I would never love like that again… I wouldn’t go through with it.

I supposed explaining to Eugene who Cassandra was would be simple enough, and I could just tell him that he didn’t have to worry because things wouldn’t change between us. I still had three weeks of summer, I wanted to spend as much time together as possible. Enjoy the finality of it all, how sweet and memorable it all would be one day when looking back. I knew I sounded crazy; I knew it made no sense that I would rather have my heart broken than to give us a real chance, but I knew myself and I would much rather break his heart at the end of the summer, than a year into something I knew I would get bored of. I wanted to spare us the pain of having to see things fall apart in front of our eyes, and then having to collect the ashes of yet another failed relationship in my twenties.

Still, I hoped he wasn’t sad, hurting him unexpectedly was not in my plans. I got up from my bed put on a cute outfit and headed for the door. I had to see him, and make sure things were fine. I wasn’t going to wait for him to show up.

I found myself at his door quickly, and to my surprise someone other than Eugene was outside. It was a tall, stoic man whose right arm was missing, he was tending to some flowers. I stood at the gate and looked at him, too shocked to say something because I was not expecting to ever meet him, Eugene’s father. Suddenly he turned to look at me. He looked puzzled at first, but then he opened his eyes excitedly, as if he knew who I was.

“I finally see your face! All of these days I’ve only been able to watch you leave, never come! You’re very beautiful indeed, I can see why my son is so smitten by you!” he announced loudly, he smiled widely as I looked at him surprised, he had said so many things so quickly I was trying to process it all. “I am Edmund, Horace’s dad” he said while reaching to give me a hug, which of course I hadn’t thought would happen.

“Horace?” I asked confused as he let go of me, but before he could answer Eugene came from inside the house drying his hands with a rag, they must have been working on the front garden together because Eugene was sweaty and wearing a really worn out t-shirt, stained with dirt and grass judging by the colors of each stain.

“Dad!” he shouted as he made his way towards us “What have I told you about hugging people you haven’t met yet!?” he told him laughing a bit but being serious at the same time, I suspected this happened often, then?

“I was only introducing myself to your friend! She’s very pretty, son” Eugene shook his head laughing.

“I know she is, thank you for being so honest.” Eugene bowed his head a little and winked at me, I felt my soul soar. He seemed happy to see me, and boy was I happy to see him. I couldn’t stop smiling brightly at him.

“I am Rapunzel, by the way” I added, realizing I hadn’t told his father my name.

“Rapunzel! Such a beautiful flower! I always wanted one in my garden!” he once again loudly announced, I guess that was just the way he talked. Eugene flinched a little, shrinking his shoulders, I could tell he was a little bit embarrassed by his upfront father.

“Well, my mother has one in our garden, I could bring you a cutting if you want” I said happily, my mother was always glad to share her plants.

“Horace! She is very nice indeed; I am happy for you two!” he said to Eugene happily and suddenly it hit me that his second name was Horace. I tried to keep the laughs for later, because Eugene’s face had suddenly fallen, even though he let out a small laugh at Edmund’s comment.

“Why don’t you go inside for now, dad? I think Hamuel threw his water bowl” he put a hand on his father’s shoulder and led him inside the house.

I waited for him to come back outside, trying to find words to talk to him about the previous night. He made his way towards me and stood in front of me.

“Sorry about that… he’s a special man” he said running a hand through his hair.

“That’s alright, he seems lovely” I told him reassuringly, he smiled. “So… Eugene, Horace, Fitzherbert?” I smiled deviously at him, trying to break the ice “I told you I’d get your second name one way or another” he laughed loudly, which made me feel so much better, knowing I could still make him laugh like that.

“You got me,” he said poking me in the chest, “my old man always uses my middle name, I didn’t think you’d cross paths to be honest” I nodded and tried to find the next words.

“So…” I started slowly but he interrupted me abruptly.

“Do you want a coffee?” he asked with a timid look in his eyes.

“Yes, that sounds nice” I smiled and we climbed the stairs to his apartment.

As soon as we walked in, I felt at ease and welcomed. I somehow found myself more at home there than in my house. I could feel my guard falling down, I had missed his place the previous night while I lay in my bed trying to sleep, I had missed the sun coming in through the window in the morning, oh how had I missed his perfume and the creaking sound the wooden floors made each time you took a step, I had simply missed him. His embrace, his warmth, his loving gaze.

He set the coffee on the counter and we sat on his stools, I tried once again to find the words to talk to him about what had happened, fearful of the outcome the conversation could have.

“Last night you…”

“I stormed off” he finished my sentence, “Not my best move, I know” he took a sip of his coffee. I nodded.

“Why?” it was a simple question with a possible horrible answer. I looked at him expectantly and intrigued, biting my lower lip.

“Because I was heartbroken” he sighed, looking at me defeated. I closed my eyes and slowly felt my body start to shake, that was exactly my fear, I had hurt him.

“Cass is my…” I tried to formulate, but it was getting more difficult by the second to control my emotions.

“I know, Pascal filled me in on the details when you went outside, thou he assumed I knew who she was.” I opened my eyes, poor Pascal, always in the middle of my messes. Eugene stood up and walked closer to me, he put his hands on my arms and started rubbing them, trying to comfort me, which worked to my surprise. “You don’t owe me an explanation nor an apology.”

“Yes, I do.” I added adamant “Cass is my ex and she wanted to tell me happy birthday and give me a present.” I was looking at him trying to keep my cool at least for a little while longer, but I couldn’t hold his gaze for more than a few seconds “She also had something else in mind which is why we… you know” I looked up at him a bit anxious, his expression was gloomy but still had a soft smile on his lips, I think he appreciated my honesty. “When I went back in and didn’t see you, I thought you were in the restroom” we laughed a little “I asked Pascal after a few minutes and he told me you had left, I came here running”

“Wait, what? You came here?” he asked, still rubbing my arms with his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he leaned in so that our foreheads were touching, I looked at him, I could feel a lump forming in my throat, I was fighting the urge to cry. I thought he would be distant and cold during the conversation, but he was being sweet and calm and I wasn’t ready for that, I was ready for a meltdown.

“I did, I threw some pebbles at your window but you didn’t answer… I thought you didn’t want to see me… That’s why I sent you a message” I could feel my lips trembling as every word left my mouth, remembering my failed attempt to see him the night before.

“I got in the shower as soon as I got home, I didn’t hear the pebbles” he answered softly, I put one of my hands on his cheek, tears slowly streaming down my face.

“You said you needed time to think,” I managed to say between small sobs “so I walked home.” He kissed the palm of my hand as he dried some of the tears with his thumb.

“I didn’t know you were outside; I would have let you in, I’m sorry you thought I didn’t want to see you.” I was a mess, full on sobbing in front of him like an idiot, for a stupid misunderstanding. He hugged me tightly and put my head against his chest. I could feel the beat of his heart. I hugged him around the waist and cried in his embrace, trying as always to make sense of my emotions. He grabbed a napkin from the counter and offered it to me. I let go of him to clean my face, take a sip of my coffee and continue our chat with him standing in front of me.

“Cassandra wants to get back together, she asked me to think about it” I said before blowing my nose. “But I don’t want it,” I shook my head from side to side “It wouldn’t work, I know that much.” I stopped for a few seconds, still composing myself, uncertain of what was coming next “It scared me when Pascal told me you had left” I confessed in a whisper “I thought you were angry or jealous or something….” I took a deep breath “I need to know if everything is okay between us because I am not ready to let you go yet.” I looked up at him with puffy eyes and a red nose. He came closer to me again and put his hands around my face, looking at me intensely and letting out a sigh. I knew he was hurt, he had told me, but I could also see it in his eyes and it broke me a little, knowing we were so incredibly far gone from our first night together and what we had discussed then, in that very same spot in his small apartment. He closed the distance between us and I let myself drown in him. My arms quickly made their way around his shoulders and my hands tangled in his hair. We kissed hungrily, as if we had spent years apart, that’s just how dramatic we were, but the fact that we had lost one night together was eating me alive, we had so little time left I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from him again. I felt one of his hands hugging me from behind, keeping me in place and softly caressing the back of my neck. We stayed there for a few minutes, until it was made clear that no kiss would ever be enough to satisfy us after an entire night away from the other. I put my hands under his stained t-shirt and quickly helped him taking it off; his hands had already made their way across my back, my waist and my chest countless times when he swiftly took hold of me, grabbing me by my thighs as I wrapped the rest of my legs around his figure, and he slowly made the way to his bedroom.

* * *

We fell asleep after, and woke up a while later, the sun already setting. I felt her next to me and I smiled, wrapping my arms around her waist and bringing her closer to me, I breathed in her perfume and kissed the nape of her neck. She shivered and stretched in my embrace, but quickly resumed her nap. I thought about what she had said about not wanting to let me go, and I felt a glimmer of hope, maybe things weren’t so grim after all.

I took my phone to check the hour and it was 6pm, I supposed it would be better to wake her up.

“Hey, sunshine” I softly bit her earlobe “time to wake up, sleeping beauty” I whispered in her ear. She groaned and sink her head inside the blankets. “I guess your sleep schedule couldn’t get much worse if you stay in bed now” I laughed a little. She came out from under the blankets and looked at me with her eyes barely open.

“Do I have to get up?” she asked sleepily “I barely closed my eyes last night” she put her arms around my shoulders and pulled me closer.

“That makes two of us” I snuggled up with her for a few minutes, I figured there was no harm in staying in bed a little while longer. I thought about the previous night and how bad I felt for reacting that way.

“You know,” I started softly, trying to wake her up “I’m sorry about last night, I was an asshole for storming off like that” I heard her mumble something quietly but decided to go on “I’m sorry you felt the need to apologize because of it” I planted a kiss on her shoulder. She turned to look at me through sleepy eyes.

“The situation did catch both of us by surprise, I guess” she smiled sweetly as I leaned down to kiss her. “Wanna ditch the pub tonight? Order some food, stay here watching movies?” she added after. A huge smile appeared on my face.

“That sounds like a perfect plan” I kissed her again, trying to understand how in the world had I been so lucky.

We told both Lance and Pascal that we wouldn’t be joining them, both of them answered with something along the lines of ‘ _moving in already?_ ’ which I found funny, but made Rapunzel anxious.

We ordered a pizza, opened Netflix and started looking for something to watch. After some perusing we both decided to watch ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ which I had seen already a few years before but its plot was so intricate that I couldn’t really remember what it was about and she had never seen it before. Once the pizza arrived, we hit play.

* * *

At the beginning the story was a bit difficult to follow, but I soon realized that was kind of the point of the story, so I had to focus more than what I had anticipated. Half-way through the film I realized we had made a huge mistake picking it. A movie about relationships with a guy I wouldn’t even consider trying to have one with, great. Clementine’s story resonated the most with me, for obvious reasons and it made me anxious. I knew all too well what it was like to get bored in a relationship and to have someone second guess everything you do. I knew that feeling of being trapped in a relationship you had jumped in too quickly. I knew what it was like being someone’s “ray of sunshine”, the one who came up with fun adventures, the one who “completed” the other, the one who made the other person feel something. I knew what it was like being projected on like that and I hated it, I hated every second of it. I knew that relationship like the back of my hand, and that’s why I refused to let myself make the same mistake again. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, someone had written a fucking good movie depicting exactly how I was feeling, so my point of view was valid: why even bother?

* * *

Rapunzel had tensed up at some point during the movie, she was resting her head on my lap, facing the TV, but she was very still and I could see how stiff her jaw was, as if she were mad or working some stuff up in her mind. I was slowly remembering what the plot of the movie was and sometime around the half of the movie I realized that maybe it wasn’t the best choice considering what our situation was. I considered turning it off and ignoring it, but she was so focused I figured she really was enjoying it so I didn’t suggest it.

I remember why I had liked it in the first place, I knew it had been a bit hard to follow at first, but once you got what was happening the story was excellent because it truly made you feel like you were inside of Joel’s head. The dream-like sensation had been so well captured that it spooked me a little to be honest, and I also liked how easy it was to empathize with the characters, I remember being a little bit like Joel myself in past relationships but also seeing Clementine’s point of view about the fatality of a doomed relationship. All in all, it was a great movie, but maybe not the right one for that night.

As we reached the end, Rapunzel tensed up even more which finally broke my silence.

“Is everything ok?” I asked as the characters ran in the snow-covered beach -which looked like one of my biggest nightmares- she sat up and looked at me, her eyes a little strained for having stared at the screen for so long.

“Yeah, why?” she put her hands on her face and yawned, then she proceeded to stretch a little.

“You seemed a little tense there for a moment” I looked at her a bit worried but trying to be calm about it.

“Oh yeah, it’s just… sometimes movies get too real, you know what I mean?” she pulled her hair back and laid her hands on her shoulders, still shaking off the nerves the story had clearly given her.

“How so? Did you try to erase someone off your memory?” I jokingly asked, trying to get a laugh out of her, which worked for a second, but then she continued talking.

“No, it’s more like I know what it feels like to be in a relationship like that one and it spooked me a little bit to see it so clearly, and with Cassandra showing up yesterday I guess it all felt too real” I knew that movie wasn’t the right choice.

“Did she get bored and distant like the girl did and eventually leave you?” I added jokingly, trying to break the tension she was feeling, but I also kind of wanted to know what had happened to her.

“No, I did.” She replied softly, looking down and hugging her figure. Silence filled the apartment for a second, I looked at her a bit surprised. I stopped to think for a second about her answer, trying to connect the dots. She was the restless one, she had dumped Cassandra because she was feeling trapped, things were starting to make sense.

“Wait a minute,” I was still trying to understand her “is this why you only wanted a summer fling? Because you get bored?” I was looking at her a bit perplexed. Stupid movie making me question our situation.

“No!” she answered promptly, her eyes wide and her posture anxious. She put her hands on her face and sighed, then she proceeded to run them by her hair finally they landed on the nape of her neck. She gave me a defeated look. “It’s not just that… It’s complicated”

I shook my head and took a deep breath. I was done with this stupid game, last night had left me devastated no matter how much I had tried to spare her feelings. I wanted to know more, and I think I was in the right position to ask some questions considering the topic would eventually come around again, might as well just ask her now that the movie had done it for us.

“What exactly happened between you and Cassandra?” I inquired a bit more serious, she stood up and started walking towards the kitchen.

“It’s none of your business” she quickly dismissed me, shaking her head and blowing off the question with her arms. She took a glass and filled it with water.

“Well, it kinda feels like it is somehow.” I added starting to get a bit flustered, she was trying to completely erase me from the situation, and it’s true I may not have been a part of their relationship but I sure as hell had been involved in its pay off. I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh. She took a big gulp of water and stared at me from the sink.

“No, it isn’t. I am leaving in three weeks and that will be the end of us, what difference will it make if I tell you about her or not?” she was adamant, but I could see her hands starting to tremble.

“The thing is I don’t want to end things in three weeks!” I said raising my voice, I looked at her sternly. Her eyes had widened and her mouth was slightly open. She put the glass down and leaned against the kitchen counter, folding her arms.

“That was not our arrangement” was all she said, softly, staring at the floor.

“To hell with the stupid arrangement! I didn’t make any promises that night!” I said walking closer, setting my hands on the counter in front of her. “I told you I was falling, and you admitted it too. Earlier tonight you told me you didn’t want to let me go…” My voice was low and I could feel it starting to break a little. “Why do we have to end things? What could possibly go wrong?” I stared at her, her eyes still lingering on the wooden floor.

“Everything could go wrong” she replied in the same soft and beaten tone. “And I don’t want to make the same mistakes, I don’t want a relationship” her arms changed position and she was now hugging her own figure, trying to protect herself from harm.

“Then what do you think this is? Spending time together, watching movies, celebrating birthdays? Seems to me like you want a relationship without the commitment, and it doesn’t work like that. You don’t get to decide if the other gets attached or not, you don’t get to put rules to prevent hurting you or me, just because you want to leave in your own premeditated terms does not mean you won’t hurt me.” I was staring at her with an exasperated look in my eyes because I couldn’t believe her stubbornness.

“Then what’s the point?” she suddenly raised her face and stared at me; I could sense anger in her eyes. “What’s the fucking point? If it ends now, we hurt each other, if we keep going, we hurt each other. What’s the fucking point of trying if it always ends the same way?” her voice was even and dry, but at least I was getting some insight on her thought process. I looked at her with disbelief in my eyes.

“That’s not how relationships work! How could you possibly think that!? Aren’t your parents still together? Have they hurt each other?” I put my hands in my head and looked at her, I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

“You know what I mean!” she put her hands on her waist and looked at me vexed. I honestly didn’t know what she meant.

“No, I don’t! I really don’t! Some relationships end in heartbreak, and some others thrive! It’s what you bet on when you start a new relationship! You know it will either hurt or it will work and it’s fine because that’s life!” I was getting so worked up I couldn’t stop gesturing everything with my hands, as if an Italian had taken hold of my movements, and I was pacing back and forth in the living room.

“No! I know myself and that’s not me! I am not made to thrive in relationships and I don’t expect you to understand it!” she threw her hands in the air, I could feel her exasperation from across the room. “I am Clementine! I get bored, I get restless and I fuck things up!”

“How could you possibly know that!?” I shouted from across the room, my voice was pitchy and high because I had completely lost my cool. I put my hands in my face and ran them through my hair. She was making me lose my mind.

“Because it has happened before! I got bored of Cassandra and I will get bored of you!” she added finally. She walked to the coat hanger to get her summer jacket, but before she could put it on, I walked towards her.

“So that’s it? We don’t even get to try?” I asked grabbing one of her hands slowly and with the other one lifting up her chin.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, I am leaving in three weeks and I don’t want a relationship” she gave me a look that was final, and suddenly I realized that I couldn’t go on like that. I wasn’t getting what I wanted but neither was she.

“Then I don’t see what’s the point of going on three more weeks. I won’t let you play with our feelings any more: I am done.” I took a step back and let go of her hand. I could see her eyes fill with tears and I felt my heart sink inside my chest. She bolted for the door and left with a loud bang. I leaned against my wall and fell to the floor.

Fucking movie.


	9. I Forgot that You Existed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I forgot that you existed  
> and I thought that it would kill me, but it didn't

I ran home, and locked myself in my room. The tears wouldn’t stop streaming down my face and I was hyperventilating. I started pacing back and forth inside my small bedroom, I opened the window and tried to calm down my haggy breaths, but I couldn’t because my mind was reeling. How had I been so stupid? How did I let myself get so attached to a man I barely even knew? Why did it have to hurt so bad? It was all my fault; I knew it was getting out of hand and I should have stopped us weeks ago. It was my own fault that my heart was broken, and I deserved it because since day one I knew I was being a bitch. I knew I was playing with his feelings; it doesn’t matter how honest I had been with him about what I wanted, it was still foul play trying to control something that was clearly out of my control. He was right, I didn’t get to choose how to end things and I didn’t get to do this in my own terms because these things are not one-sided. I should have known better.

My phone started to vibrate on my bed, Pascal was calling me. I took a deep breath and answered him.

“Yes?” I opened with my best impression of a person who was not having an emotional breakdown.

“Lance just asked me to ask you if you are home and okay” I smiled for a second, clearly Eugene was worried I had made it alright walking on my own at night.

“Yes, I am home and yes I am okay, for the most part” I told him, trying to hide everything I was going through.

“Weren’t you staying at Eugene’s? What happen-“

“I am really tired Pascal, I’m going to sleep, say hi to Lance for me, goodnight” I couldn’t talk to him right now, and he was busy, he didn’t have time to hear the whole story. Plus, I didn’t know how much longer I would have been able to keep down my sobs. I hang up and let out a cry. Fucking Eugene Fitzherbert. I was crying my heart out because of him and he still somehow made it impossible for me to hate him. I lay down in my bed and grabbed the stupid chameleon he had given me weeks before, and started crying again. I was in the exact same position I had been the previous night, crying because I missed him, only this night there was no going back. There was no way to fix this. I fell asleep crying.

\- . - . - . - . - . -. - . - . - . - . - . -. - . - . - . - . - . -. - . - . - . - . - . -. - . - . - . - . - . -. - . - . - . - . - . -. -

I woke up early the next morning and I cleaned my room, it was a bit messy, there were some clothes on the floor, my laundry basket was full and there were crumbs on the desk because I always ate cookies while drawing. I went down stairs where my parents were having breakfast and hugged them both before they left for work. After cleaning a bit around the kitchen and living area I went back to my room and played the guitar for about an hour. Then I decided to do some commissions I had in queue and by noon I was lying on the floor of my room, not knowing what else to do. I needed to keep moving, I needed to come up with a plan, I was sick of feeling like a teenager. Suddenly, it hit me, I needed to fix my life and I knew exactly how. No more clouds fogging up my view.

I picked up my phone and called Pascal because I needed to talk to him right away. He came to my house an hour later and we sat beneath our favorite tree in the garden, drinking some freshly-squeezed orange juice. My parents’ garden was always beautiful, we had had so many wonderful adventures in that same spot when we were little, it felt like the perfect place to have a conversation now that we were so grown up.

“I need to ask you a favor” I said after a few minutes of enjoying the nice weather and taking a sip from my glass.

“Anything, but first could you tell me what happen-“ I cut him off again before he could finish the sentence. I wanted to be clear and upfront about the matter, but I really couldn’t bring myself to talk about the fight, so I decided not to make a fuzz about it. It was just better to keep it out of my mind.

“Eugene and I decided to go our separate ways, that’s it” I told him with a bright smile on my face, he looked at me worriedly. I kept smiling at him reassuringly “It’s alright, really, it’s fine” he shook his head.

“No, it’s not. You’re bottling things up as usual… I’m sure I’ll be there to pick up the pieces” he smiled a little. He knew me like the back of his hands, he knew I’d eventually implode and tell him everything, but I had caused him so many problems with Cassandra that I kind of wanted to spare him the Eugene drama, I’d tell him soon enough. “Wait, but what happened with Cassandra, then?” he looked at me intrigued. “I was so mad at her I didn’t even text her.”

“Oh, right! Cass! Nothing happened, we kissed, but don’t worry, we’re not getting back together… I should probably text her to tell her that.” I thought for a few seconds, I had been so busy with my feelings for Eugene that I had completely forgotten I had to tell Cass my decision was final, we were not getting back together. I was not starting a relationship, with no one. Pascal nodded and put a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s for the best, for both of you. I just hope one day we could all hang out together again…” he sighed, I looked at him. Being the friend caught in the middle of a break-up must suck. Pascal met Cass at college, just like I did, and we all became this inseparable friend group that did everything together. Pascal had been really affected by our break-up, more so than I could imagine. He shook his head a little and smiled at me. “What is this favor you need to ask?” Glad that he had changed the subject I proceeded to tell him my plans for the future.

“You know how I lived in that horrible boarding house the last six months of last year after Cass and I broke up?” he nodded; I was sure he was remembering all the horror stories I told him about living in that place. “Well, I really don’t want to go back there and I was wondering if maybe you would lend me your apartment for a few weeks while I look for my own place in the city…” I looked at him and bit my lower lip, I didn’t want to put him in a difficult position, but I really needed to get away from Corona, I was wasting time.

“Absolutely, that’s not even a favor! I thought you were going to ask me to burn that boarding house down or something” he started laughing, I hugged him.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” was all I could say, he really was the best of friends. “I will be out of your hair as quickly as possible, I promise!”

“You know, I don’t mind living with you, so it’s okay, take your time” he smiled up at me “In fact” he said perking up a little “what do you think about us sharing an apartment?” I looked at him a bit surprised. “You could look for a place with two bedrooms and we could share the rent” I smiled brightly at him.

“Oh yes, Pascal! That sounds like the best idea ever!” I threw myself at him and hugged him tight. “I will look for a place for us, it’ll be amazing!”

“Okay, but can I ask what’s going on? Are you going back early?” he pulled me back and looked me in the eyes a bit concerned.

“Yes, idleness does not become me, that much I’ve learned this summer. I feel like a teen, I am wasting my time doing nothing” I sighed “So, I will use these weeks before college starts to look for a part-time job! It’s time to grow up and stop letting mom and dad pay for everything” I laughed a little. He looked at me and I could see he wanted to know more, he knew were this sudden burst of decisions was coming from, but I was not ready to talk about it. “So, I’m leaving tomorrow morning, I already bought the ticket” his eyes widened.

“Oh, wow. It really is settled then. Okay, I’ll bring you the key to the apartment tonight before I got to work” was all he added before standing up.

“Could I ask for another small favor?” I asked standing up. He looked at me and nodded. I went to the shed where my parents kept all of their gardening supplies and grabbed a small garden trowel. I walk towards the Rapunzel flower my mom had in the gorgeous brick mason in the middle of the yard, and took a small cutting from it. I put it in a little pot and handed it to Pascal. “Would you please go to Eugene’s house, knock on his father’s door and give him this from me?” I looked at him a bit sad, I wished I could give it to Edmund myself, but I didn’t have the courage to face him after last night’s fight.

“Sure, I’ll take it on the way home. I gotta go now, it’s getting late and I need to take a shower” he gave me a hug and with that he was off through the garden gate.

I thought about that garden gate for a second and I felt my heart sink inside of me. I brushed the thought off and went inside to pack.

That night at dinner I told my parents about my plans for the year, they were really happy I was moving in with Pascal and they agreed to help me pay the rent, as they had been doing ever since I moved to Vardaros.

“But I would also like to help this time” I told them, they looked at me a bit surprised. “I want to get a part-time job” I told them happily.

“But Rapunzel, we want you to focus in school when you’re there, sweetie. You know it’s no problem for us to pay for everything” said my dad a bit disapprovingly. I was always thankful they were so supportive and willing to give me everything I needed. I was their only child, which meant I had always been a bit spoiled, specially by him. He was always so scared for my well-being, he had to be in control of everything.

“I know, dad. But this doesn’t have to do with money, I just really need to feel a bit more independent. This summer, as nice as it has been to rest for a while, I felt like a teenager again, and I’m 22. It’s time I do something more.” My mom smiled at me; my dad was still staring at me with worry in his eyes. “Look, let’s make a deal… I’ll keep a job as long as it doesn’t interfere with my school duties.”

“That sounds fair, Fredric” Mom said nodding, “I think it’s a very good idea, Rapunzel.” She turned to dad, “You could ask your friend that has that art gallery downtown if there’s anything Rapunzel can do there.”

My dad considered the idea for a few seconds, he was a bit hard to convince sometimes, but mom always had a way to bend his will. I smiled; they knew each other so well. Mom knew he’d accept as long as he was involved in some way.

“I guess I could give him a call and tell him how responsible you are, but I will need your resume.” I stood up and hugged him tight, while winking at mom who laughed a little under her breath.

“Thanks, dad” I kissed him on the check. “I’m sending you my resume to your e-mail right now!” I picked up my phone and sent it to him instantly. “Okay, now that everything is settled, I must tell you I’m leaving tomorrow on the first bus to the city”

“Tomorrow!? That’s so soon!” My dad stopped eating to look at me concerned. My mom put a hand on his arm asking him to calm down.

“Did you buy the ticket already?” Mom asked calmly.

“Yup, I did! Now if you’ll excuse me,” I said finishing my meal and taking my plate to the sink “I have to finish packing” I smiled brightly at them and went upstairs.

A few minutes later, I was folding some pants when my mom knocked on the door. I let her in with a big smile and shower her how little packing I had left, she helped me with the last load.

“So, Rapunzel…” Mom started as she set my make-up bag inside my case, I should have guessed this was coming “What made you change your mind so quickly?”

“I told you mom; I am tired of feeling like a teenager. I figured if I could leave now and set my affairs in order before college begins, then I should.” I looked at her, she had a concerned look in her eyes. The same one Pascal and dad had given me. Then she lowered her eyes a bit, staring at my chest where the sun charm of my necklace was resting. I immediately put my hand over it and without even being able to process any thoughts, I burst into tears.

My mom ran to my side and sat me on the bed. She hugged me while I sobbed. My chest rose and fell in spasms as I tried to recover a normal breathing pattern and my mom tried to wipe the tears off my face.

“Did he hurt you?” she looked me in the eyes, she was scared he had been abusive or violent. I shook my head.

“No, mum… he was great, as per usual…” I used the sleeve of my sweater to clean the snout coming from my nose. “I ruined it” tears still streaming down my face. “In the end I was responsible for breaking my own heart” My mum hugged me again.

“Everything will be fine, but if you’re running away… that’s not the way to handle things. You could apologize to him, sweetie.” I shook my head.

“No, I don’t want a relationship, I am not ready for that. I really want to move on.” I pulled away from her and reached for one of the tissues on my desk to clean my face. I took off the necklace and put it inside of my jewelry pouch, and then inside my suitcase. My mom sighed and started caressing my back.

“Okay, sweetie. If you are not ready for something serious then it’s for the best.” She kissed my temple and helped me close my suitcase. She left a few minutes later and I was left alone in my almost empty room. My computer was in my bag along with my art supplies, and my guitar was in its case. I put on my pajamas and turned off the lights. I wanted to feel numb.

We all had breakfast together the next morning and went to the bus station. Dad helped me load everything on the trunk of the bus, and mom bought me some snacks for the trip. I hugged them tight before getting on. I blew them a kiss from my seat when the bus finally started to move. I put on my airpods and enjoyed the ride.

* * *

I was still lying on the floor next to the door when I heard a soft knock on it. My father walked in wearing his bear pajamas he was so happy he had found at the store. He knelt down next to me.

“Chin up. It’ll get better soon” he sighed “Too bad… She seemed nice.” I laughed and gave him a little smile. I was glad to have him around.

I grabbed my phone and sent a message to Lance, asking him to ask Pascal to ask Rapunzel if she had made it home okay. He replied with a confused emoji but a few minutes later I got a new text saying she was fine. It was almost 1am and I had to work the next day. I helped my dad go down the stairs, he gave me one last smile before closing the door. I climbed back up and went directly into my bedroom. I took off my pants and jumped under the covers, it was cold. I quickly fell asleep, turns out fighting drains you.

I woke up the next morning feeling like crap, I did not regret the outcome of the fight, but still it hurt like hell not seeing her next to me, again, and this time definitely. I got up, took a shower and got dressed for work. I arrived to my office with a cup of coffee already in my hand. I sat down and checked my -emails, as per usual. There were some meetings I had to attend and apparently there were throwing a party for Linda, the receptionist who was turning 50. A new mail came in as I was declining the party invitation, I was not in the mood for cake. It was not a mail from the office, it was from LinkedIn. I opened it and started reading. A recruiter from The Guardian in London was offering me a job as a senior content creator. I had to check twice, because it couldn’t be true. My profile had matched their search and they had seen I had recently been to England and were wondering how willing I was to move there to work at their offices. They were offering a pretty decent salary, and they wanted me to counter offer in case I felt it was not enough money. I drank the entire cup of coffee in one gulp because I was having problem processing all of that information. I re-read the proposal time and time again, I could not believe it was true.

I started to play out the situation in my head. I had moved back to Corona a little over a year ago to help my father. Cooking, eating, gardening and feeding the birds was getting more and more difficult for him, even when he had lost his arm almost ten years ago in that fateful car accident. He was blaming himself for my mother’s death and his mental health was not in good shape, he had lost a little bit of contact with reality because of the depression he was in. Once I was done attending college, I figured I could travel to sit for finals, and I could live in the apartment above the garage, that way I had my own space and he wasn’t alone. In that year, I could see how day by day he got better, my company was doing him good and he appreciated me helping with the bills and keeping the house clean. We were finally recovering from our wounds, moving on. I couldn’t leave, not now. My job at the Chronicle was good, it was stable and I was next in line for a promotion. I felt leaving everything behind just to pursue a more prestigious career was frivolous, but damnit, I kinda wanted it. Ultimately, I closed the e-mail and decided it was for the best that I stayed. London could wait a little while longer.

I got through the day as best as I could, with Rapunzel and The Guardian in my mind. I felt lousy, like I couldn’t get anything I wanted. I was letting go of things that made me happy.

I cleaned up the apartment after work and lay down in my couch, closing my eyes, letting the impotency I was feeling drown me. I fell asleep and woke up an hour later with a loud knock on my door.

“Stop touching yourself, I’m coming in!” I heard Lance shout as he barged in through the door holding a six pack of beer and a bag with food. He turned on the lights as I was opening my eyes, making me flinch. “Oh boy, you look like shit”

“Thanks” I muttered, rubbing my eyes. This was a typical Lance intervention. “Who told you?” I asked sitting up straight, he was setting everything on my coffee table.

“Pascal told me something happened, but he didn’t say what. I don’t know why I got the impression that he doesn’t know exactly what happened.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised, she keeps things bottled up.” He sat next to me and turned on the TV.

“What the fuck happened, man?” he asked straight up. I looked at him defeated.

“I fall in love; I want a relationship. She falls in love; she wants to break it off.” Lance nodded. “She told me she didn’t want a relationship because she gets bored, so then what’s the point? She thinks relationships only end in heartbreak and…” I sighed. “I told her that if she was going to end it in three weeks, I was going to end it right there. And that’s what we did.”

“And she stormed off?”

“Yeap, which is why I sent you that message. Thank you, by the way” Lance put a hand on my shoulder and shook me from side to side.

“Ah, Eugene Fitzherbert, he can’t even be a jerk to a girl who just broke his heart” I laughed mockingly at him. I wasn’t going to be able to sleep without knowing she was safe. “You know what, good riddance. If she doesn’t appreciate you man, then she doesn’t deserve you.” I shook my head and laughed a little, I knew he was right.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” He opened a can of beer and took a big gulp.

“They can handle it without me for one night, and it’s Monday, slowest day of the week! Heard my brother was in trouble, and came to rescue him with food, of course” I laughed, he truly did not know when to tone down his cheerfulness, which I very much appreciated at the moment. “Oh look! There’s this one youtuber I found the other day; he goes around the city trying and comparing different restaurants. Oh! you gotta check out this one!” he clicked in one of the videos.

“The most expensive burger in Vardaros? How expensive could it be? It’s just a burger, right?”

“You’re about to embark on a beautiful journey, my friend. And we’re going to this place as soon as we take a trip to the city”

We watched videos for about an hour as we ate our very cheap and tasteless burgers, compared to the one in the video, and drank our beers. After a while, his jokes and laughter had definitely made me feel better. I sighed after a particularly good joke, and he looked at me.

“How are things at work?” he took a sip of his third beer.

“Great! Great… Couldn’t be better, really…” The job-offer at The Guardian came to my mind. I sighed again.

“C’mon, something’s clearly off!” he said leaning against the couch and putting his feet up on the coffee table.

“Well… I got a job offer at another place today” Lance perked up, intrigued. “And it’s really good, but I can’t take it”

“Don’t be stupid, what is making you turn it down?

“It’s in London”

“Oh”

“Yeah, damnit, it’s really good you know, and I always wanted to live abroad, at least for a while, and this is just perfect and it fell right on my lap today” I ran my hands through my hair “but I can’t leave this place, not right now. He is doing so good, Lance. We are doing so good; it finally feels sane in here without mom.”

Lance looked at me knowingly, he had been there when the police called me about the accident. He had seen me through it all, he knew first-hand how bad me and my father had had it after all that. I sighed and lowered my head, putting my hands on the nape of my neck.

“You should take it” Lance said suddenly. I looked at him.

“What? I just told y- “

“If you’re worried about Edmund, then don’t be. I’ll take care of him”

“Lance, what are yo- “

“I mean it! I can help him with his bills, gardening, cooking, the birds, anything! I can move in here if you don’t mind and keep a close eye on him. It sounds like one hell of an opportunity, and if taking care of Edmund, who is kinda like a father to me, is all it takes for you to seize it, then fuck! Just go!”

I looked at him, I couldn’t believe the words falling from his mouth, I shook my head and blinked a few times.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely, the old man and I will have a hell of a time together, and he will be so happy for you.” He smiled.

I hugged him, I don’t know what the hell I had done to deserve a friend like Lance, but I was fucking grateful. He hugged me back. We finished our beers and at around 12:30am he stood up, claiming he was tired and would take his night off as an opportunity to actually go to bed early. I walked him to the door and we hugged again.

“Thank you” I said again.

“Don’t even mention it! Okay, I gotta let you sleep because you have to quit your job tomorrow, can’t be late for that!” I laughed and climbed up the stairs.

The next morning, I went down to have breakfast with my father and to tell him the news. Just like Lance had predicted he was extremely happy for me, and was super excited about Lance moving in. Things were looking up after that dreadful first day of the week.

After a few days of talking with the recruiter and setting my affairs in order, I handed in my two weeks’ notice.

* * *

“Okay, what did you think about that place?” I called Pascal after the realtor left. I wanted to know his honest opinion before signing the lease. I thought it was perfect. The rooms weren’t huge but they were more than enough for us. The bathroom was nice, it had a big mirror, a tub and even a bidet! The kitchen space looked comfortable and it had a big dining/living room space. It didn’t have a view, which made it cheaper than expected but the sun somehow managed to find its way through the living room window at noon, so I had really liked it.

“Oh, I loved it! And it’s so cheap! There must be something wrong with it!”

“Maybe someone was murdered in it.” I said nonchalant. He let out a loud laugh.

“We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.”

“Okay, if it’s a yes from you, I’ll call the realtor this evening and tell him we’ll take it.” I jumped up and down, I was so excited about living with Pascal, it was going to be so much fun!

“Great, I’ll be there next weekend for the moving, call me if you need anything, bye!” he hung up. I jumped again in my spot on the street, waiting for the bus. The new apartment was close to the campus, it was in a nice neighborhood, it truly was too good to be true. I wondered if something was wrong with the place, maybe it was haunted. I laughed a little to myself. It didn’t matter if a demon lived in there, apartment hunting was exhausting, so I was glad we had finally found a place we both liked.

I saw the bus turn the corner when my phone started ringing again. It was my dad, I answered as I was getting on.

“Hey sweetie, Gary called again, he told me they are looking for a part-time receptionist at the gallery if you’re interested.”

“DAD!” I shouted as I took a seat. “Are you serious!? It’s perfect! What do I need to do?”

“He told me you should go to the gallery tomorrow at 8 for an interview, and to bring your resume with you, but don’t worry honey, I put in a good word for you. I’m sure they’ll hire you.”

“Dad, you know it’s not really fair if you hand everything to me on a silver platter, right?” I loved him, but sometimes I felt he made things too easy for me.

“I know, I know… I just really want you to get a job as soon as possible so job-hunting won’t interfere with your classes. I gotta go back to work now, love you”

“Okay, dad. I love you, too. Thank you!” I hung up. Things were falling into place quicker than I expected. Sure, dad had just taken a big load off me by practically handing me a job, but I’d take it. It was my first real job; I appreciated any help I could get.

The next morning, I had breakfast, put on my most professionally looking clothes and headed for the gallery. There, they told me they needed someone right away for the evening shift, from 5 to 9, Mondays through Fridays. They asked me about my computer skills, how organized I was and how quickly I could learn to handle google calendar and other apps in order to organize events and meetings. I knew pretty much everything they asked for and it helped a lot that I was studying art because it meant I was around my element. I assured them that I was a quick learner and that I was ready to start as soon as they needed me. They told me they would evaluate my interview and call me sometime tomorrow morning. I thanked them and left to sign the lease at the realtor’s office.

I got a call the next morning that they wanted me to start right away at the gallery if it was possible. I called my parents and Pascal to tell them the good news. Pascal arrived at the city that weekend and together we moved to the new apartment. I was getting the hang of my new job when college started, and with classes in the mornings and work in the evenings I barely had any time to rest, but it was good. For once in my life I felt I was in charge of my own destiny, and I had never felt so free in my entire life.

The warm breeze and the city lights had somehow made me forget about all the heartbreak and pain I had suffered -by own hand of course, but still- It was magical, from one moment to the next I was a new person, and I was excited to get to know me. I had been really lucky that things had unfolded just like I wanted them to: I was living in a vibrant, beautiful and exiting city and I was free to do as I wanted. The hot weather was the only thing making me miss Corona and its beautiful green scenery, well that and the small chameleon plush sitting in the middle of my bed.


	10. I Almost Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, we made quite a mess, babe  
> It's probably better off this way  
> And I confess, babe  
> In my dreams you're touching my face  
> And asking me if I wanna try again with you

_ 6 months later _

It was 7pm when I got down from the bus, which was more difficult than I imagined it would be. The gallery was only a few blocks away, and I usually enjoyed the walk there but tonight I was wearing black high heels, a cute long-sleeved black dress with a pair of black tights and I was freezing. I was of course also wearing my beautiful and comfy red trench coat and gorgeous hat that matched my dress, but that winter so far had been merciless, and my poor legs were suffering. I felt a little bit out of my comfort zone with my outfit choice since it was a big departure from my usual floral style which I loved so much, but once I was told I was expected to attend the annual ‘Lakeshore Gallery Charity Fundraiser’ I had called my friend Sophie and she had taken me shopping for something a bit more according to the situation.

“Trust me, this outfit will come together beautifully, people won’t take their eyes off you” she said as we were leaving the mall. I trusted her, even when wearing all black was not my favorite choice.

I was feeling extremely confident before leaving my apartment, Pascal couldn’t quite believe I was able to pull such an outfit so effortlessly when I usually only wore sneakers and Uggs.

“Effortlessly? My feet are screaming, how do people walk in these things?” he laughed, I was not one for high heels, and this were stilettos, which made the affair even more difficult.

“You can do this, it’s only for a few hours.” He answered reassuringly, I gave him a look that said _‘maybe you should walk in these for a few hours and then we’ll talk’_ but he just laughed at my scold and continued watching Netflix.

I went back into my room to search for my jewelry pouch. I was going to wear the earrings Pascal had given me for my birthday. I was opening the bag when it fell on my lap. I picked it up and ran my fingers through it, the sun charm still shinning like it did on my birthday. As I inspected it, an overwhelming sadness took hold of my body, and I let out a big sigh. I could feel the waterworks already setting motion inside of me, but I couldn’t be late for the party so I put it out of my sight and searched for the earrings. I put them on and checked my make-up, everything was in order. I shook the sadness out of my body as best as I could, brushed my hair a bit more, put on my hat and trench coat and left blowing Pascal a goodbye kiss.

I arrived a few minutes later, the party already in full swing to my surprise. It was packed with clients, investors and artists. My dad’s friend Gary was also there, he approached me and handed me a glass of champagne. He knew I was a bit of a fish out of water because I barely even knew the people there, aside from him whom I knew since I was a baby. He offered me his arm and walked me towards a group of people who were inspecting one of the works being presented. A tall young woman, with short brunette hair was speaking. She was staring at the piece in front of her, giving her opinion.

“I think she was trying to portray the haze of everyday life. As an artist who was born and raised in the city it clearly shows how intimate a place like this can feel, no matter the amounts of lights and people surrounding us.” People nodded and murmured their agreement enthusiastically. She turned around and smiled brightly at them, that’s when I recognized her, it was Fidella, Max’s girlfriend. She stopped for a second on my face and raised one of her arms, giving me a small hello. I smiled at her, trying to keep my cool, wondering if Maximus was there too. Gary walked up to her.

“Fidella, this is Rapunzel, a promising young artist who is working here.” he said trying to introduce us.

“I didn’t know you were an artist! How have you been?” She was as kind as ever; her smile could light up an entire room.

“Great, great!” I answered a bit awkwardly, as nice as it was to see her, I couldn’t stop remembering those summer nights at the bar, and my heart broke a little for the second time that evening. “I’ve been working here for a few months now; it’s been very instructive.” Gary laughed.

“Fidella is representing one of the artists here tonight, she was just giving her opinion on one of the pieces she’s kindly given us for the fundraiser, but I can see you know each other…” Gary trailed off smiling.

“Yes, we met this summer in Corona when my fiancé took me to meet his parents.” She answered promptly.

“Fiancé!” Gary exclaimed excitedly “Congratulations!”

“Congrats!” I also added happy for them.

“Thank you, we’re really happy” she said beaming but took this as an opportunity to change the subject. “So, Rapunzel, you’re an artist! I would love to see some of your work someday, I’m always looking for new talent” my eyes widened, I was not expecting that.

“Absolutely!” I replied excitedly “I could send you my portfolio if you’re interested.” This was such an unexpected turn of events.

“Yes, please! Here, I’ll give you my e-mail account so you can send it.” Gary was very pleased.

“Your father will love to hear this! Now ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be out of your way.” And with that he left to receive another guest while Fidella and I exchanged e-mails.

“So, is Maximus here?” I asked once we had put our phones away, I wanted to at least say hello to him as well, I didn’t want to be rude.

“Oh, no. He is out celebrating with Eugene and Lance tonight.” She said smiling. I tried to pass her mentioning his name, and tried to act as nonchalant as possible.

“Oh, did he go back to Corona for the weekend?” I imagined they were at the Gopher having a good time then.

“No, no. They are in a bar just a few blocks away” she said happily. “Eugene came back for a few days, and I knew he would rather skip this for his best friend.” She laughed a little.

That changed things. Eugene was in the city, and what did she mean by _‘came back’_? In any case he just _came_ to the city for something, right?

“Oh, that’s great, great!” I tried to keep my cool but knowing Eugene was just a few blocks away made my legs feel weak. A waiter walked by me with a tray filled with champagne glasses. I left my empty one and grabbed a new one, gulping it quickly. Maybe getting tipsy would help. Fidella had to leave because she had to keep talking about her client’s pieces for a little while longer, so I started walking around a little bit, feeling lost. I looked at the pieces on the walls and I looked at the people talking but I couldn’t focus on anything. I kept drinking champagne and thinking about Eugene, I was starting to see him everywhere, in the faces of strangers walking around the gallery, on the works of art, as the waiters who kept providing me that wonderful bubbly drink. At one point I felt the place starting to spin, so I figured I had to sit. I managed to walk in those evil high heels towards one of the stools at the end of the gallery, where hors d'oeuvre were being served. I took a few from a platter and took out my phone.

I opened Instagram and searched for his profile. I had unfollowed him as soon as we had ended things. His last post was from four months ago, a picture of the Big Ben from his trip to London no question. That didn’t tell me anything I wanted to know. He had uploaded some stories, but I couldn’t check them without looking like a stalker. I searched for Lance’s profile, I hadn’t unfollowed him but I had muted his posts and stories from showing up on my time line. His last post was from a few hours ago. It was a huge burger, the caption said _‘Trying the most expensive burger in Vardaros with my best buddy’_ it was a burger, how expensive could it be? Still, that post also told me nothing I didn’t already know, him and Eugene were in the city. He had stories as well, and since I was following him, I felt less like a stalker going through them, although he’d be surprised when he saw my name show up in his views, if he ever checked them.

I clicked on the small icon and he was there, on my screen. I looked at him for the first time in six months. His hair was longer, he had a 5 o’clock shadow on his face, and he looked so happy to see his friend. Lance had filmed him coming from a gate in what looked like an airport and I wondered if he had returned to London to do more research, but then, what was Lance doing in the city? I passed to the next story, this time it was at the restaurant where they had had lunch, it was a selfie of Lance, Eugene and Edmund, which only made me even more confused, why was Edmund also in town? The third and last story was a video of them at the ‘Happy Lantern’ bar, making a toast. Lance had clumsily tried to take a video of the moment and I could see his hand holding his glass, as well as Eugene, Max and Pascal!? I looked through the story again because I could not believe it. He hadn’t told me anything! I put my phone inside my purse, devoured my hors d’oeuvre and walked towards the door, not before without gulping down another glass of champagne. I put on my coat and hat and ventured into the street.

It was chilly, but the effects of the champagne were on full swing so I didn’t suffer as much. I started walking, I didn’t know what I was doing but I knew that bar was only two blocks away from the gallery and that’s where I was going.

I stopped when I saw the sign with the name outside, I couldn’t go in. I couldn’t barge in uninvited, what an awful thing to do. I looked through the windows, it was dark inside, the lights were dim and I couldn’t find them anywhere. I wondered if I was at the right place, maybe the alcohol was playing tricks on me. Suddenly, a waiter moved and there he was, just a few feet away from me, laughing and sharing with his friends. I smiled to myself, he looked happy, he looked content. I wondered what his life was like, how he was feeling, I wondered how long it had taken him to move on. I thought about how long it had taken me to do the same. I felt like he had been erased from my mind, as if I had done the exact same thing Clementine had done in that fateful movie we watched before everything was ruined. But damn it, just like in the movie I hadn’t forgotten him, he had left an imprint on me, a vague memory of what it felt like. Seeing him so close was tempting and heartbreaking, knowing I was to blame for the downfall of whatever we had had. I really wanted to go in and tell him I was sorry, but what good would it do? He had probably moved on, and in a way so had I. It took everything in me to move my eyes away from him.

I leaned against the wall next to the frame and looked up at the buildings covering up the night sky, I sighed. What was I doing? Stalking people through a bar window, wow, I had reached a new low. I was so ashamed of myself I had to let open my coat, between the alcohol in my bloodstream and my shame, I was flustered. I closed my eyes for a second and that’s when I heard someone clear their throat next to me. I opened my eyes and they grew twice in size when I saw Lance standing just a few feet away from me. He gave me a really stern look and I laid my head low.

“I knew I shouldn’t have tagged this place in my story” he said, shaking his head. I winced, that was a direct blow to my pride. “What are your plans, exactly?” I looked up at him.

“None! I swear, I don’t even know what I’m doing here.” I sighed.

“Okay, then I suggest you leave.” He was adamant, not playing around.

“Did he see me?” I asked intrigued.

“I don’t think so. And let’s leave it that way, I just came out for some air.”

“Oh,” I thought for a few seconds “How is he doing?” I felt like an idiot, but I wanted to know about him.

“That’s none of your business.” Another blow. I knew I deserved it. I leaned against the window again and I looked at Eugene inside, laughing with Max and Pascal. “That guy over there is someone really special and you failed to see that. You hurt him and he had to move on. If you come back now it’s just going to hurt him again, and I don’t want that.”

I nodded, I knew Lance was right, but that didn’t stop my eyes from filling with tears. I backed away from the window and leaned against the wall again. Tears streaming down my face. Lance looked at me and handed me a napkin from one of the empty tables on the sidewalk. He sighed.

“Listen, I don’t have anything against you, in fact I really like you and I’m sorry for making you feel bad. I’m just really protective of him, you know? His life hasn’t been easy and he is my brother, I don’t want him to get hurt again” I nodded intently.

“I know, Lance. I really like you too, I’ve missed you and your cakes.” I laughed a little remembering my birthday. “I know I was the worst to Eugene. I don’t know what I came here for honestly. Hell, I don’t even know what I feel anymore.” Maybe I had missed him more than I let myself know. I had almost broken down in tears at the sight of his birthday present that same evening, and I was unashamedly crying listening to Lance’s wise words. I had hurt him; I had lost my chance.

“Well, until you figure it out, leave him out of this. He is doing great right now; I don’t want you casting a grey cloud over it.” I laid my head low again; he was absolutely right.

“Goodbye, Lance. It was nice to see you.” I gave him a sad smiled which he returned it. I glanced through the window one last time and started walking towards the bus stop.

I arrived at the apartment a few minutes later and took off my heels. It was barely 11pm and I felt like a loser, alone in my apartment on a Saturday night. Pascal was still at the bar, of course. I could have returned to the gallery, but I honestly didn’t feel like being around people. I sat on the floor of the living room, my head against the couch we had recently bought at a flea market. It was the first time in months I felt sad, truly, agonizingly down. I had been so caught up with work, friends and college that I hadn’t stopped to think for a minute about past heartbreaks, I hadn’t had the time really, or actually, I hadn’t given myself the time to reflect on my broken heart, a huge mistake. Letting go so quickly made it all come back like whiplash. Everything was coming back to me. I thought about summer and the nights at the bar, how I wished I was back there, I missed that place and its people, Lance and Pascal trying to play cards while working, Eugene telling stories from when they were little with Max, Pascal’s horrendous cocktails. I let out a small laugh when I remembered Eugene smashing my margarita just so I didn’t have to drink it. I thought about his place, that small apartment which had felt like home somehow, the sunshine coming through his bedroom window, his coffee, his hands. I cursed myself for how things had ended, even if they had to end.

Even though I was really enjoying my life just as it was, I thought about what I had missed. I imagined my life with Eugene in it, giving us a chance. I tried to picture what that would have looked like, I pictured me travelling back and forth from the city to Corona, just to pay him a visit. I imagined him coming to the city and staying for the weekend at my place. I saw us walking around the city, trying to come up with a fun plan for the day. I thought about him brewing his coffee in the kitchen and bringing it to bed, ready to read the news as he always did. A long-distance relationship would have been nice, it would have given me the space I needed without having to lose him, how did I not consider that during the summer? I was six months late to the idea. I cursed myself again. I laid on the floor for a while, waiting for the alcohol to burn its way through me. I picked up the remote and turned Netflix on. As soon as my profile opened up, as if it were a cruel trick of destiny, I saw that stupid movie in my recommendations. I sighed and clicked on it, I wanted to relive it to try to see if I could understand what had gone so wrong that night after seeing it for the first time.

An hour and a half later I was sobbing on the floor of my apartment, thinking about what could have been if I hadn’t been a fucking coward. I was throwing myself a pity party for having been so incredibly stupid when Pascal walked in.

“Oh my god! What happened?” he asked kneeling in front of me.

“I am an idiot! That’s what happened!” I said dramatically, I couldn’t get a hold of my emotions, and then I remembered, he had seen him. “How is he!?” I looked at Pascal desperately. I needed to know about Eugene.

“How is who?” he asked, trying to save face.

“Cut the crap, Pascal. I know you were with Eugene tonight!” I was still sobbing. The apartment was dark and silent, the only sound coming from the cars in the street, eight floors below us. Vardaros was never quiet, that’s what I loved about it the most.

“Oh, so that’s what this is about. I knew I’d be there to pick up the pieces someday.” He sat down next to me and laid his head against the couch, I mimicked him. “How do you know he’s here?” he asked calmly.

“I ran into Fidella at the gallery, she told me absentmindedly. Then I checked Lance’s Instagram and saw you there.” He nodded. “Lance told me to get away from him.”

“Wait, what?” he looked at me confused.

“On a drunk whim I walked to the bar and stalked you from outside… Well, not you. Him.”

“Oh, Rapunzel…” he cocked his head to the side and gave me a sorry look. I sighed.

“Lance caught me and told me to stay away from him essentially. I came home and I have been crying for a while now.” He put one arm around me and hugged me. “Why didn’t you tell me he was in town?” Had someone asked him not to tell me?

“I checked Instagram when you left for the party and saw Lance’s stories. I told him it was cool they were here and he invited me to the bar, I wasn’t trying to hide it from you.” I nodded, that made sense. I hugged him, tears still streaming down my face. He gave me small pats on the back.

“Is he okay?” I knew asking Pascal for information was wrong, but I truly needed to know how he was doing.

“He seems to be doing great.” Pascal answered honestly. “He’s living in England, you know?” I broke away from his arms and looked at him surprised.

“Wait a minute, what?” Suddenly I was kind of glad I hadn’t considered a long-distance relationship back in the summer.

“Yeah, he was offered a position in some British newspaper a few months back, and took it.” I stopped to think for a few seconds, that’s why Lance and his father were in the city. But what was he doing here, then? “He’s here to present his thesis, he’s graduating.” Now that made sense.

“Oh,” I smiled a little “I’m happy for him.” Pascal smiled back at me. After a few seconds, I let out a sigh. “Gosh, I’ve been so stupid. Why did you let me be so stupid?” I punched him softly in the arm as I cleared some tears off my face.

“I don’t know! You were so secretive about it all at first, and you were so worried about what people would think… I guess I just wanted to spare you of my insights, considering you didn’t want any.” I nodded softly.

“Well, serves me right, then. I was an idiot; I made such a mess.” I sighed for the millionth time that night and stood up. “I’m going to bed, I’m too sad to cope with life right now.”

“Okay,” he said standing up and putting a hand on my shoulder. “Think about everything you’ve accomplished these past few months; you should be proud. I am proud of you.” I smiled softly at him.

“I know… But you know me, always something missing.” He gave me a sad look and with that I started walking towards my room.

I was looking for my pajamas under my pillow when I felt something cold reach my hands. I turned on my night light and I saw Eugene’s birthday gift in my hands. I stared at it for a few seconds before closing my grasp on it. I brought it up to my lips and planted a kiss on it, trying to make my peace with the subject, tired of crying over something I couldn’t change. I opened the drawer in my bedside table and put it inside a small box I had in there. I put on my pjs, turned off the light, hugged my chameleon and closed my eyes trying to sleep.

* * *

I saw her out the window. I was listening to Max telling us about his proposal, when I saw her out the window. I had to blink a few times, because I could have sworn she was there, but the lights were so low that I couldn’t be completely sure and the next moment it seemed she was gone. Lance had made his way outside and it looked as if he was talking to someone. Was she really there? Or had I had some sort of strange vision? Lance was known for being able to start a conversation with anyone, so it was possible he was talking to a complete stranger. But what if it was her? Maybe Pascal had invited her, but I doubted it, Lance wouldn’t have been happy about it, and to be honest I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see her. I hadn’t thought about her for a while now, though it had been difficult to take her out of my mind. Starting a new life in a different country had definitely helped, but at night I always stretched my arm to the opposite side of the bed, and I was always a bit disappointed when my hand didn’t find her. I kept staring out the window, and just as Lance made his way inside, I saw her staring right at us. She was there, I was right. I stood up and made my way to the door, Lance looked at me and sighed, as if he knew what I was about to do. I stepped outside and saw her walking down the street, her long blonde hair covering most of her red winter coat. As she was approaching the corner, she tripped up a little, possibly because of the shoes she was wearing and turned her head to look behind. She was oblivious to my dark figure standing outside the bar, debating what my next step would be. She crossed the street, and I kept staring. I was rooted to my spot, letting the moment go, too afraid to walk up to her and say hello, too scared to risk another goodbye. I walked back inside and tried to go on with my night as best as I could.

A few hours later, I was lying in bed at the hotel we were staying, unable to sleep. I thought about Rapunzel. I wondered what was she doing at the bar, and why had she left so quickly. I imagined Lance had something to do with it, probably trying to spare me the heartbreak. But just seeing her outside had been enough to spark up everything back to life. God, I missed her, and I hated myself for it. I wondered what her life was like, I wondered if sometimes she thought about me, I wondered if she thought about what could have been. I thought about sending her a message, asking her if maybe she wanted to hang out, but I felt like an idiot for even considering it. I had been the one to put a stop to things, why would she want to get together? Besides, what good would it do? I was leaving back to London in three days, and our story was already a closed chapter, just like she had wanted. I cursed myself for being so hung up on her, and somehow in the middle of my self-pity, I managed to fall asleep.

I woke up the next morning with a weird sensation of having had her close to me, close enough to touch her face, asking me if maybe I wanted to give it another go. I shook my head and tried to put her off my mind.

Sunday went by in a haze; I was far too preoccupied with my thesis presentation than with Lance’s plans for the day so I decided to stay in my hotel room and go over it a few more times, just to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. Him and my dad went to different places around the city, Lance was eager to make the most of his time there, before going back to Corona.

I decided not to take many breaks because my mind brought Rapunzel back to me each time I lost focus, and I couldn’t, as much as I wanted to, allow myself to think about her, I needed to study.

Lance and dad came back at around 8pm and we all went down to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. I took a shower when we went back upstairs, trying to soothe my nerves and went to bed at around 11 pm.

I woke up early the next day, ready to tackle college’s last round. I had breakfast at the buffet and walked to the university on my own, Lance and dad would be waiting outside for me when I came out.

I arrived at the building a few minutes later, took one deep breath and walked up the stairs, ready to finally graduate.

* * *

We were so close, he was hugging me by the waist and I had my hands on his face, touching his every faction: his nose, his eyelids, his mouth, tracing his smile… It was perfect, we were happy. He ran his fingers through my back and leaned in to me, his forehead touching mine. He sighed into my eyes and opened his lips to say something.

I opened my eyes abruptly, it was 8:45 am.

My alarm hadn’t gone off which meant I was running late for morning class. I jumped out of my bed, grabbed my bag, put on the first thing I could find and ran out the door, not even thinking about breakfast. I jumped on the bus, got to college and raced upstairs in the direction of my classroom. Class had barely begun when I entered, luckily. I only had to battle my stomach for two hours before being able to go to the Starbucks around the corner to get something to eat. When you’re really hungry time goes by slower, it seems. I was so hungry that I couldn’t focus on the lesson, so I resorted into drawing the margins of my notebook. My hand started moving on its own and I was already mid-picture when I realized I was trying to capture Eugene’s eyes staring at me, just like in my dream. I let out a big sigh and continued sketching the bridge of his nose, his smile, his soft and wonderful hair… On Sunday I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, I supposed I would be able to go back to normal once I knew he was away from me again. Pascal had told me he was leaving back to London on Tuesday morning, until then I was just destined to mop around for having been so stupid. I had to stop myself countless times from sending him at least a ‘good luck with your thesis’ text. At one point I had even written out the message on his chat and had almost pressed sent, but something stopped me. Maybe I was being a coward, but another part of me thought about how selfish it would be to mess with his feelings just before a big presentation, so I decided to shut the hell up and let him be. I finished my sketch and stared at it transfixed, I couldn’t believe how perfectly I remembered him, he had clearly never truly left my mind. Suddenly everyone around me started moving, the professor had ended the class five minutes early. I gathered my stuff quickly and ran for the door, I only had a thirty-minute break before the next class and I was in desperate need of coffee.

I was walking down the stairs in a hurry, staring at my phone when I bumped into someone and my bag, which was open, fell on the floor. The person in front of me had been quicker than myself and was already gathering my books from the floor.

“Gosh sorry, I am an idiot!” I said kneeling down to help him. Suddenly he turned his head up and looked at me in a halt, his eyes doubling in size. “Oh!” I said recognizing him instantly. “Hi” was all I could formulate.

“Hey,” was all he said, the surprise on his face had diminished and now he was softly smiling at me, sparks flying everywhere. I smiled back at him, and damn, I had missed those sparks.


	11. Come Back... Be Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this is when the feeling sinks in...

We stood up and he helped me put everything inside my bag. He kept looking at me, but I couldn’t hold his gaze so I looked at the floor. It felt like a trick of destiny, I had tried and tried to stay away from him for his sake, even when I was dying to see him, only for us to run into the other like that, as if we were part of some stupid movie. I was at a loss for words and my hunger had instantly disappeared. My cheeks were red and my eyes felt watery. He cleared his throat.

“Uh, I just graduated, that’s why I’m here.” He said shyly. I looked up at him and nodded vigorously.

“I know, I know! Pascal told me, congratulations!” I said putting a strand of my hair behind my ear and giving him the best smile I could muster.

“Thanks” he said softly, putting his hands inside the pockets of his leather jacket. I could still feel my face burning up and I feared tears might start streaming down my face soon.

“Well, I go here… I was just getting out of class. Going for a coffee…” I trailed off, trying to keep my cool.

“Yeah, and I forgot my phone inside, I was just going back to get it.” I gave one final nod and looked at him in the eyes. I felt sadness surround my entire body, his gaze was sorrowful and I was pretty sure so was mine. Before I made a fool of myself in front of him, I decided to run away from him as quickly as possible.

“It was nice seeing you.” I said looking down at the floor and started walking down the stairs without even waiting for him to say goodbye. I saw Lance and his father on the sidewalk, waiting for him to come back. They had seen the scene unfold in front of them. Lance gave me a beaten look, while Edmund softly smiled at me and raised his one hand to say hi. I returned the smile as best as I could and mimicked his movement. Once I was a few more feet away from them I ran to the Starbucks in the corner.

* * *

I watched her run away and cursed myself for not running after her. It had felt like destiny somehow, no matter how much I had stopped myself from calling her, she had come to me unannounced and unexpectedly. Damn it, I wanted to go back to summer and hug her and kiss her and run my hands through her long blonde hair. I shook my head as I watched her escape from me, all of the excitement from my graduation had faded and all that was left lingering inside of me was a hollow feeling only her touch would fill.

I went inside to look for my phone, one of the professors was keeping it for me in his office. I went back outside where Lance and dad were waiting for me.

“How you holding up?” Lance asked me, I could see he was worried. I was looking in the direction she had run to, sighing.

“I’m fine, it’s fine.” I said shaking my head and waiting for Lance to start walking, he had organized a celebratory lunch with Maximus and Fidella. I was able to forget, at least for a little while, about her and enjoy the fact that I was finally done with college, and that my friends and family could share that moment with me.

After lunch we went back to our hotel room, I had to pack and check that I had everything ready to board the plane the next morning. My dad needed to take a nap and Lance had decided to take a long soothing bath before he had to go back to his apartment in Corona, where he only had a shower.

I made sure everything was ready and set for my trip, and then I decided to lie down for a little while and gather my thoughts. I was finally a graduate, no more essays, no more research, no more studying! That huge chapter in my life had at last ended, I felt fulfilled. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. I thought about that morning, how happy dad and Lance were when I came out running saying my thesis had been approved. I thought about what had happened after and how maybe that one chapter hadn’t been as closed as I thought it was. I opened my eyes resigned and grabbed my phone.

* * *

I ordered my coffee and sat down in one of the booths, I didn’t want to cry, I was tired of crying over things I couldn’t change. I was completely sad, and that was okay, but I drew the line at crying particularly after something so stupid. We had run into each other, that was it, that did not guarantee a crying session. I thought about him and his damned smile. I wanted to be with him, he was only staying for a few more hours and all I wanted to do was run my hands through his soft hair and tell him I had missed him and that I had been an idiot for failing to see how great he is. I sat there for a few minutes, drinking my coffee. I put my arms on the table and lay my head on them cursing myself for what it felt like the 100th time that week. Turning my head to one side, I looked at my phone to check the hour, my class was about to start so I grabbed my coffee and went back to school. I tried to compose myself as best as I could but when I sat down in class and opened my notebook, the sketch I had done the previous period showed up and an inhuman sound came out of my mouth. Sophie looked at me intrigued, I closed my eyes and shook my head.

“I am really not in the mood to deal with the world today.” I muttered sitting next to her. She looked at my notebook and saw the sketch.

“Is someone fogging up your mind?” She eyed his face and smirked at me.

“Ugh, it’s complicated. Would you tell me what the class was about? I think I’m gonna head home, I won’t be able to focus today.” I almost never skipped class, so I figured I could take one morning off.

“Okay sweetie, I’ll text you after class, now go before the professor walks in.”

“Thank you” I smiled at her while gathering my stuff and ran out the door.

I went home and lay down on the couch, trying to calm myself and my raging bad mood. I was so overwhelmingly angry; I couldn’t even process the fact that I had to go to work in a few hours. I was angry at myself, for caring so much, for being so stupid, for having pushed him away back in summer. I was no longer sad about how things had turned out, I was onto a next phase of mourning, anger. I paced back and forth in my apartment, fuming and grumbling. Finally, I lay down on the floor, staring at the ceiling, sighing and beating myself up for everything. I wished he would just go back to London, so that I could forget about the possibility of seeing him and move on with my life. Next time I found out he was in the city, I would take a flight to England.

Noon had passed, and I realized I hadn’t had anything to eat all day. I got up from the couch, still moping around and looked for something to eat in the kitchen. There were some much appreciated pizza left-overs. I was sitting on the counter, eating when my phone vibrated inside the pocket of my jeans. I grabbed it expecting a text message from Sophie telling me what the class I had missed was about when his name showed up on my screen. My heart rate increased, I could feel it thumping inside my chest, the muscles literally jumping.

  * _Can we talk? Somewhere?_



That was all it said. I got down from the counter and started pacing back and forth, this time in the kitchen. What did he want to talk about? There wasn’t much left to say to be honest, I could apologize for having been such an asshole but he was the one who wanted to talk. I had felt such a rush of different feelings all at once, I was excited, worried, angry, sad. I think it would be safe to say that I was on a rollercoaster of emotions.

  * _Okay, what time?_



I waited a few minutes for his answer, the anxiety burning through me, it was getting late I had to start getting ready for work.

  * _What time are you free?_
  * _I get off work at 8. Meet you at the Happy Lantern then?_
  * _Okay_



So, I would see him after all. I felt my heart flutter, I couldn’t think about anything else, if I thought I was anxious before, then I had just reached a whole other level. Maybe he was calling to yell at me, after my behavior a few months back I sure was angry at myself, maybe so was he. But then again, this was Eugene, he was probably one of the nicest people out there, so it surely wasn’t the case. I tried not to dwell too much on what he wanted to talk about, and instead enjoyed the fact that he wanted to see me, even if it was just for a little while.

I started getting ready for work, I put on my favorite winter sweater, it was grey with colorful sequins around the neck, a white shirt underneath, a pair of tight black pants and my classic black oxford shoes. I did my usual makeup routine which consisted of neutral tones and a bright lipstick, brushed my hair, put on a black winter coat which used to be my mother’s, and left for the bus stop.

At work I could barely concentrate, too anxious to even consider doing all the paperwork left from the party on Saturday. Suddenly I remembered Fidella had asked me for my portfolio, which I already had saved in one of my e-mails, so I sent it to her, hoping maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to help me start my career as a published artist. The rest of the day went by slowly, I tried to do the best I could with all the paperwork, and focused really hard in the tasks I had at hand.

Finally, 8pm arrived and Gary came by to close the gallery. I put on my coat and started walking towards that fateful bar. I arrived quite literally three minutes later, and looked through the window, he was already inside sitting in one of the tables. My knees felt weak and my heart was racing. I took a deep breath and walked in. He was wearing a black sweater and a dark pair of jeans. His infamous leather jacket was hanging behind him on the chair.

“Hi” I said softly as I arrived to the table. He stood up and pulled out a chair for me. I smiled; he was truly a gentleman.

“Hey” he said as I sat down. “How have you been?” he sat in front of me. I looked at him, smiling sweetly.

“Good, um, everything is great.” I honestly did not know what to say “how about you?” small talk wasn’t my thing.

“Well, I graduated college today, so it’s been nice.” He said smiling and shivers went down my spine, how I had missed that smile.

“Congratulations, again” I returned the smile, it was so nice seeing him again, I wished things would go back to the way they were before, but maybe it was for the best that we were just friends.

“Thanks’ he replied happily. I was about to ask him what he wanted to talk about when the waiter arrived asking us what we were having. He ordered a pint of beer and I a tequila sunrise.

“Okay, great. Shall I bring you the food menu?” he added after writing down our order. We looked at each other awkwardly, we did not know if our encounter would be long enough or pleasant enough to guarantee dinner.

“Maybe we could…” Eugene started slowly and looked at me expectantly.

“Order some fries?” I added giving him a _‘would that be okay?’_ look.

“Yes!” he said, more confident now, “A plate of house fries.”

“Very well, I’ll be back shortly with your drinks.” And with that he left. We looked at each other, not really sure what to do next.

“So… you have a job?” Eugene started trying to break the ice. I hated that for some reason I was feeling like we were on a first date… Which, if I stopped to think for a second, we had never had.

“Yes!” I answered enthusiastically “I’m a receptionist at an art gallery. It’s a nice job.”

“Sounds nice, how long have you been there?”

“For about five months now, it’s been quite instructive, I’m learning more there than at college at this point.” The waiter came by and gave us our drinks. I took a sip of my cocktail.

“Yeah, college has that, at some point you start to realize that actually doing what you’re studying for is much more helpful than sitting for midterms,” he laughed a little before continuing “it happened to me when I got my first job in the city.” I looked at him intrigued; I didn’t know he had worked there. I just assumed the Corona Chronicle had been his first job. He took a sip of his beer.

“Oh? What was your first job?” it had just occurred to me that I didn’t know much about him, during summer I was so focused on not getting attached that I had barely even asked him about his past.

“I was a content creator at a silly teen magazine, nothing much, but it helped pay the bills which my dad appreciated and it also gave me a first glimpse of what working in journalism looked like.” I nodded, while putting the straw in my mouth, taking a sip.

“Pascal told me you moved away for a better offer…” I looked at him, waiting to see if he wanted to tell me about it.

“Yeah, I got an offer from The Guardian in London, which was… insane now that I think about it. And I moved there about five months ago as well. It was a life-long dream coming true, and it still kinda feels like I’m dreaming when I’m there.” He finished smiling, grabbing his glass to take a gulp.

“Well, that’s amazing. I’m happy for you.” I smiled softly at him, trying not to think about what it would have been like if we had tried to have a relationship with him going away to another country. I was glad things had happened the way they had, we both had great jobs in great cities, everything had turned out for the best for the both of us. Still I looked at him and my heart broke a little, knowing just how good we had had it back in summer, and how little I had appreciated it.

The waiter came by and brought our fries, and we started eating them. I was rummaging through my head trying to find at least one topic we could talk about when he spoke.

“I wanted to see you, that’s why I sent you the message. I don’t really have anything to talk about.” I looked at him, my eyes must have doubled in size, my lips partly open. I could feel my cheeks turning red and my heart started racing a thousand miles a second. “And I know it sucks, because I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and this is only going to make it worse, but I just had to see you, know you were okay.” I kept staring at him, surprised. My heart was about to jump from my chest.

“I came here on Saturday,” I admitted, but he wasn’t as surprised as I was by his confession “I ran into Fidella and she told me you were here, and I stalked you on Instagram.” He laughed a little, the sound of it made me remember how much I had missed it. “I came here and I stalked you through the window, Lance gave me a talking to.” He laughed a bit louder at that.

“I know, I saw you.” He said grabbing a fry from the plate. “I even went outside and almost ran after you.” I took a deep breath, we were just as hung up on each other as we had been during the summer, only this time he was leaving the next day to an entirely different country.

“I thought about sending you a message, but Pascal told me about your thesis, and I didn’t want to distract you so I didn’t.” I looked down at my fidgeting hands on the table.

“I thought about sending you a text as well, I just… I supposed you wouldn’t want to talk to me, considering how we left things… But when I saw you this morning, I couldn’t bear it anymore.” I nodded slowly.

We looked at each other knowingly, none of us had expected we’d run into the other. We both had tried to stay away and let it be, but destiny had something else planned. The thing was that our lives were so different, we didn’t click anymore and there was nothing we could do about it, we couldn’t turn back time to a moment when our lives fit to a perfect T.

We stayed there talking for a little while, he told me about Lance living with his father and I told him about being roommates with Pascal. He explained to me his job at the Guardian offices and I told him about Fidella possibly scouting me for her own. We ate our fries and we finished our drinks and soon it was clear that it was time to say goodbye.

“It’s getting late, and I have an early flight tomorrow.” He said looking at his watch. I nodded, standing up and asking for the bill. He paid for our order and I put on my coat, but I wasn’t ready to let go just yet.

“Would you mind…” I started shyly “walking me home?” I looked up at him, he was smiling softly.

“It’d be my pleasure.” I smiled brightly at him, damn it he was amazing, how did I not see it sooner? We started walking towards the door, he held it open for me and we made the way to my apartment.

We walked slowly, trying to stretch the moment, knowing it would end too soon. We talked about life in the city, the differences between London and Vardaros, how unsafe I sometimes felt walking alone, how absurd some British accents were and how difficult it was for him to understand people over the phone. I told him about my father helping me get a job and he told me a little more about how his father and Lance were doing. It was a rather long way from the bar to my apartment, which is why I always took the bus to get to work, and it was a cold winter night, but it didn’t matter, as long as I was next to him, I would endure the harshest of weather. We laughed and we listened to our stories, enjoying the other’s company more than what should be advised considering he was leaving in just a few hours. I thought about saying goodbye again and I felt a lump form in my throat. I tried to ignore it but with each step we took, it became larger and larger.

We were three blocks away from my apartment, when I started to notice the small drops on the pavement. Slowly it started to rain on us, a drizzle at first and a shower a few minutes later. We picked up the pace and arrived at the front door quickly, before my coat and hair got completely soaked. From one moment to the next it was pouring, we stood beneath the porch watching the rain fall down, much like the first night he had walked me home almost seven months before. I looked up at him, water running down his face.

“So, I guess this is goodbye” I told him, moving my eyes away from his face, trying to focus on something else. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to keep it together once I saw him walk away.

“I guess so…” he said almost in a whisper. I walked up to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, not wanting to linger for too long because I wouldn’t be able to let him go, and he had to go. I opened the building door, and just as I was about to walk in, I felt his hand grab my arm and pull me into him. Suddenly, I felt his lips on mine. I closed my eyes and kissed him back, feverously. It felt like breathing for the first time after holding your breath for too long. I tried to savor the moment and drown in his touch. My hands quickly found their way to his face, pulling him closer, demanding more of his tongue, to finally entangle in his wet hair. I felt his hands on my waist, running up and down my back, trying to reach beneath my coat. I somehow managed to open the door and pull him into the lobby. “I really” he said between kisses, gasping for air while I pulled on his lower lip “should g-” he let out a small moan.

“Shut up and kiss me” was all I managed to say as I reached for the elevator buttons. He obeyed my command, as we walked into the lift. He pushed me against the mirror wall as the doors closed behind us, leaving a trail of kisses down my neck while I unbuttoned my coat. I stretched my hand trying to reach the panel, but it was too far away from me. He realized what I was trying to do and between laughter he asked me _‘what floor?’_ “The 8th” I said in a ragged breath. He pressed the button and launched himself back on me, as the elevator started to move us upward.

He pressed his hips against mine and my legs started climbing him, he put a hand on my tight keeping me in place as we continued to explore our bodies after months and months of being apart, rediscovering each other. My coat fell on the floor and my hands were finally free to unzip his jacket. His hands made his way underneath my sweater and started drawing circles around my waist, making me lose my mind. The elevator stopped and the doors opened, we were at my floor. He let go of me and grabbed my coat from the ground, we walked out and this time I launched myself at him, guiding him towards my apartment door through the hallway. I had told Pascal I’d get home later than usual but that I’d have dinner with him, so when we got to the door, I stopped Eugene and checked my phone. Pascal had sent me two texts.

  * _Ordered Chinese, left you some in the fridge._
  * _I’m off to bed, I got up way too early today, don’t miss me._



He was the best, and best of all he was sleeping. I opened the door and let Eugene in. He inspected the place for a few seconds while I threw our coats on the couch. I looked at him walking around the apartment, I liked seeing him there, it somehow felt right to see him in my living-room, as if he belonged there, with me. I went up to him once again and put a hand on his arm, he turned to look at me. No words were needed, we couldn’t stop our deepest cravings. All thoughts of flights and goodbyes forgotten, as we undressed one another, making the way through that final threshold that would lead us into my bedroom.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

We didn’t fall asleep after; we didn’t have time to sleep. I was running my fingers through his chest basking in the warmth of his embrace; and he was softly laying kisses on my forehead, the crown of my head, my nose and everywhere he could reach with his lips. I inhaled his perfume and felt intoxicated, I wanted that perfume to stay forever impregnated in my bed, I wanted us to stay as we were, for eternity. The rain was hitting the window and the wind made a horrible haunting sound, but my room was warm, and his arms were around me, it felt like heaven. I picked up my head and looked at him, his eyes were closed, I kissed him slowly and softly as I put my arms around his shoulders. He hugged me tighter, pulling me closer. I put one of my hands on his cheek and he opened his eyes.

“I don’t want to go…” he whispered, I leaned into him and closed my eyes, our foreheads touching. I took a deep breath.

“Then don’t.” He nuzzled into me and put his head on my shoulder. I was slowly caressing his back; he was drawing circles with his hands on my lower back. I suddenly felt a wave of sadness overcome me, because I knew he had to leave. It had abruptly dawned on me that that happiness we were feeling was fleeting and the warmth would go away as soon as he left the place.

I thought about those summer mornings we wouldn’t get to share anymore, and I remembered how stupid I had been thinking about how wonderfully ephemeral we were. How excited I was for our relationship to fade out and move on, when all I wanted right in that moment in my apartment was to hold him and never let go again.

I thought about confessing and asking him to stay, but how selfish would that be? I hadn’t wanted him back when our lives were in perfect tune, and of course now that he had a wonderful life and job far away from me, I did.

But then again, he had just told me he didn’t want to leave, so how bad would it be if we both succumbed to our desires? I felt as if a little Rapunzel dressed as a devil had just landed on my shoulder. Maybe he could get his old job back or find a new one in the city… His career wouldn’t be as prestigious as he may have hoped, but we would be together and maybe that was enough.

No, once again, manipulating people into doing what you want has never worked in the end, my conscience told me, this time dressed as an angel. Manipulating him into staying meant he would have to settle down for a possibly mediocre job somewhere he did not want to be, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that was the case. He had potential, the people at the Guardian knew it, he knew it, I knew it, and I wouldn’t be the reason that went to waste. I sighed in his embrace, he was still nuzzled against my shoulder and he had fallen fast asleep. I looked at the hour, it was almost midnight. I didn’t know what time his flight was, but he did say it was an early one, so I stretched my hand to grab my phone on the nightstand to set an alarm for 4am, just in case. I put my phone back on the table, and leaned into Eugene’s chest, closing my eyes, enjoying his arms around my body and praying for 4am never to arrive.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of her phone, I was so tired I could barely even process what was happening, I hadn’t fallen into such a deep slumber in what felt like months. Something about having her next to me made my muscles relax and my anxiety to fade away, it was magical, she was magical. She grabbed her phone and turned off the alarm.

“What time is it?” I asked, my voice was dry, my eyelids were having a bad time staying open.

“It’s 4am,” her voice was sleepy and soft, and I wanted it to be the first thing I heard every morning. “I didn’t know how early your flight was so…” she added, reaching for her nightlight. Right, flight, London. My spirits fell to the seventh circle of hell. Not only was it horrible outside, windy and rainy and above all cold, I truly didn’t want to leave that bed. I wanted for us to be just as we were in that moment, every night. I wanted to stretch my arm and feel her figure next to me, I wanted to share our mornings again. The adrenaline the thought of losing her again gave me awoke my entire body.

“What are we going to do about this?” I was upfront and determined. She scratched her eyes with her knuckles and looked at me, smiling a little.

“What do you mean?” her voice still drowsy. She gave me a confused look, as if for once during that night our thoughts hadn’t aligned.

“This” I gestured with my hands, “us”. I looked at her, the expression on her face made my spirits fall, once again.

“What is there to do?” she asked standing up, searching for something in her drawers. “I live here, you live there, there’s not much we can do.”

“Are we really doing this again?” I started dressing myself, I had to leave for the airport in an hour and I couldn’t believe we were about to have the exact same fight we had had six months before. “Are you really pushing me away, again?”

“I’m not pushing you away, you are going away and there’s nothing I can do to change that.” She had put on a pajama set, ready to shove me out the door and get back to bed.

“Yes, there is.” I looked at her sternly, I wasn’t backing down this time. “You could ask, and I’d probably say yes.” I could see her battling with herself, opening and closing her mouth trying to come up with a clever answer.

“It wouldn’t be fair, I don’t want to start up anything that way, and it isn’t fair of you to ask me that” she finished. I sat on the bed, looking for my shoes. I sighed because I knew she was right.

* * *

He sighed on the bed while putting on his shoes. I looked at him from the other side of the room, I wanted to run into his arms and tell him how much I wanted for him to stay, but I couldn’t, even if he wanted me to, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

“Okay, then I’ll stay. You don’t have to ask, I am making the choice to stay here, where you are.” He stood up and walked up to me, putting his hands on my waist. He leaned into me, our foreheads touching. It was such a tempting offer, but I truly did not want to be the one he gave up his dreams for. “You just gotta tell me you want me to, and I’ll stay, I promise” he whispered slowly, drawing circles on my lower back with his hands.

I could feel his eyes on me, even when mine were shut, I couldn’t hold his graze. My hands and lips were trembling, but I knew what I had to do next.

“I don’t want you to stay, Eugene.”

I kept my eyes closed; I knew tears would start falling as soon as I opened them. His hands left my body, and I couldn’t feel his breathing on my face anymore. He walked out of my room and closed the door. A few seconds later, I heard the lock on the front door click. I opened my eyes and fell to the floor, he was gone.

I lay on the floor hyperventilating, trying to calm myself down, trying to get a grip of myself. After a few minutes I stood on my weak legs and jumped on my bed, covering myself with the blankets, his perfume making it all the more difficult to steady my breath.

Once I had settled in, I took a deep breath and started crying. I felt like I deserved a good cry, I had just sent him away because I didn’t want him to throw away his life for me. I had been so closed up to my own feelings, that I needed to let out everything I had been bottling up. I had always tried to stop me from crying or feeling sorry for myself, thinking it’d do me no good to wallow in my own self-pity, but in that moment, crying was a source of relief. I thought about how this time I wouldn’t get a second chance, he wouldn’t be able to forgive me twice for breaking his heart, and I hadn’t even apologized for how I had acted back in the summer. I played it all back again in my mind, how ignorant of my own feelings I had been back then and how nonchalant I had tried to be, for what? to prevent my heart from breaking? What an absolute fucking tool.

I thought about life in the city, how close I was to achieving my own goals, my dreams. An excellent career, a good job, my art possibly being shown in galleries… It was all too good and so empty, when the rush of lights and busy streets didn’t bring him back to me. I missed him so much, seeing him for just a few hours was not enough, I didn’t want to miss him that way, but what was I supposed to do?

I cried till it was light out, so light that his plane must had already taken off judging by the hour on my phone. I blamed myself for everything, he had always been the one willing to try, and I had always been a coward, but that night thou I didn’t regret sending him away to fulfill his dreams and goals, after all that’s what you do when you love someone.

Love. Someone. It finally clicked. I was in love with Eugene Fitzherbert, and I had just sent him away to another country. What an awful moment to find out you are in love with someone, and what a cruel way as well. He was in fucking London, and I was breaking down in my bed, cursing myself for taking that long to figure it out. As always, my timing was the worst. I loved him, completely, every single part of him and I had tried to deny it, ignore it, push it back, but it all resurfaced in that one morning with me crying in my bed, after breaking his heart and mine for the second time.

I missed him, I needed him, I wanted to tell him to come back and be there with me, but I couldn’t and I wouldn’t.

Finally, at around 8am I ran out of tears and I feel asleep, hugging the chameleon he had won for me on that summer night. I would skip college that morning as well, I couldn’t move from my bed. I felt numb, all muscles in my body sore, my chest felt tight and empty. I knew the room was warm because the heater was on, but I felt cold all around me without his arms to make me feel at home.


	12. The 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long hiatus  
> This is dedicated to @goldennfitz and @valengogh on twitter, for supporting me, waiting for this and for their birthdays <3
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> We were something, don't you think so?  
> Roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool  
> And if my wishes came true, it would have been you

_Five years later_

“Fidella, it’s only a weekend” I said talking on the phone.

“I know! But I just think it’s really inconvenient now that Di Giovanni is in the city.” I sighed shaking my head.

“Di Giovanni is going to decide if he likes my pieces whether I am there or not Fid,” a fellow artist from Italy was coming to see my exposition on Saturday and maybe even pick one for his gallery in Rome. It was all very exciting, but I did have to return to Corona for that weekend, it was my father’s 50th birthday and he was throwing a huge party with family and friends at the local club, and I didn’t want to miss it. Pascal would be joining me in Corona the next day.

“Okay, I know, it’s just that as your agent I have to highly suggest that you stay” I let out a small laugh, Fidella sighed on the other end of the call “As your friend I highly suggest you have a good weekend. I have it under control.”

“Thank you, bless you. See you Monday.”

I checked the hour after hanging up, the bus was running a few minutes behind. I put my phone in my pocket and looked around at the people waiting next to me. It was a hot summer morning, the day, I could already tell, was going to be a fiery one, at 7 am everyone was already fanning themselves and complaining about the heat, hoping for the bus to arrive so the AC could put an end to their misery. I was focusing back on the platform, trying to see if the bus was anywhere near when I saw him walk inside the station. I almost broke my neck turning my head so fast whilst I gasped louder than would be suggested and my eyes doubled in size; some people turned to look at me. The sounds of the platform and the gathering of people made it all the more difficult to focus back on where I had seen him. He was gone, nowhere to be seen. The bus stopped next to me, appearing out of nowhere and I heard some woman urging me to move forward. So many different upsetting emotions in a few seconds, I jumped on the bus feeling out of place and confused. He was there, I was certain of it. It felt like a figment of my imagination, and a cruel one at that. I took a seat and looked out the window expectantly, nothing. I frowned, a little disappointed and put the matter to rest as I took my headphones and put on some music.

Five years, it had been that long since we had last seen each other on that fatal night I broke his heart and mine in the process. What a difficult time to reminisce. After that night I focused on my painting, and paired up with Fidella to show and sell my art. Only a few weeks later she had been able to sell my first painting, one of a small bar and two figures having a warm conversation, surrounded by lights. From then on, my career took a jump start. I finished college and continued selling my pieces thanks to Fidella who was finding places to showcase them around the entire country. I was able to quit the job at the gallery and focused on my art full-time. The main subject of my pieces back at the beginning was heart-break, and people seemed to resonate with them. I guess it’s true what they say: if you never bleed, you’re never gonna grow, and Eugene had somehow made me open up a wound very difficult to close up, but painting was my therapy. As time went by and I was able to heal and forget, my art started to branch out into other aspects of my life and the world around me, nowadays I was constantly painting beautiful landscapes of beaches and beautiful gardens filled with flowers, I was missing home. My father’s birthday came as a wonderful excuse to escape from the city for a few days and breathe in the pure air Corona always had to offer.

I have always liked to use travel time as an opportunity to have some retrospection. Going home nowadays meant quite a different thing to me than what it meant back when I was barely 20. I felt grown-up and a nostalgic of a lighter time, when things were uncertain and scary, even when I shouldn’t have been scared of much. Traveling back home felt weird too, in the last four years I had travelled to different countries, sometimes to showcase my pieces in galleries and others just for fun with Pascal, Sophie and even my parents, when a vacation was needed. Returning home made me appreciate everything I had achieved and how much more I had to accomplish, but being able to choose to go home felt like freedom as well. Back when I was starting college, going home for the summer felt like a halt in time, leaving the big city and putting a stop to my plans, going back to a place where nothing ever changed. But as the years went by, I came to discover that the familiarity of it all was something wonderful to come back to, it felt like peace somehow, being in a town where everything felt so much like home.

I arrived at 10am on Friday and walked home from the station. I decided to walk through the garden door, I was in some desperate need of that beautiful paradise my mother so wonderfully kept alive. She was tending to some flowers right next to the kitchen window when I announced myself. She ran towards me open-armed and hugged me tight, leaving a trail of dirt stains in my t-shirt because of her gardening gloves covered in it. I didn’t mind, of course, my mom’s hugs were warmer than a summer’s day and I had missed them very much.

“Oh Rapunzel, you look beautiful as always dear!” she said putting a hand on my cheek and taking a good look at me, leaving some dirt stains on my face as well. “Your father is going to be here any minute, he went to the bakery to buy some bread, you can go inside and settle in. I’ll be there in a minute.”

I took my small suitcase and walked inside, the house had been painted and re-decorated with some of my paintings on the walls, and as always, many pictures of my childhood. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. I was half-way through it when my father barged in through the door.

“At last, she’s home!” he shouted as he saw me and a huge smile appeared on his face. I ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

“It’s so good to see you, dad. I’ve missed you both so much!” I hugged him again.

“We’ve missed you too darling, so? Are you ready?” he asked me promptly. I looked at him expectantly.

“Ready for what?” said my mom walking in from the garden, walking towards the sink to wash her hands.

“We’re going out for lunch! There’s this new restaurant in town, and the baker just told me it’s really good” he left the bread on the counter and waited for our responses.

“Well, sure, let me go wash up an I’ll be down ready in a few minutes” I said happily, lunch sounded like an amazing idea considering I had had breakfast four hours ago.

I took my things upstairs and walked into my old room. It was quite literally impossible for me not to walk into that room and instantly feel like a teenager again. My old guitar was hanging on the wall, my books and diaries on the shelves, my beautiful purple comforter as always adorned the bed with its huge purple canopy and my many cushions always in their place. I put my luggage down and opened it up looking for a summer dress I thought was perfect for the occasion. I went into the bathroom and quickly brushed my hair and put on some pink lipstick. I went downstairs feeling like a princess in my purple-pink dress and comfy yellow vans.

My dad insisted on taking the car to the restaurant, even when it was only seven blocks away. He said seven blocks under that heat would turn us into fried eggs. We arrived at the restaurant and a waiter showed us to a table. I grabbed a menu and saw for the first time the restaurant’s name: “Lance’s” and immediately felt my stomach turn. This was Lance’s new restaurant Pascal had told me about a few weeks before. I felt absolutely happy for Lance, but the chance of seeing him made me a bit nervous, five years had gone by but he had been a first-row spectator of the shitshow I made Eugene go through, so I wasn’t sure he’d be happy to see me. But of course, as always, I was getting ahead of myself, Lance was clearly the chef, so what business would he have coming to see the diners, right? I tried to relax and read the menu. The waiter came to ask what beverages we would be having, we each ordered a bottle of water and to have a cheer my dad asked for a bottle of rosé sparkling wine. Then we proceeded to inspect the menu in order to choose our meals. My dad decided for the wellington beef while my mother chose the vegan stuffed mushrooms and I a plate of ravioli stuffed with various vegetables which sounded delicious, especially considering it would be Lance cooking.

The waiter filled our cups with the rosé wine and my dad raised his glass looking at me.

“For the greatest gift I could have ever asked for, thank you for being here Rapunzel” the three of us raised our cups and clinked them together.

“I love you, dad. And you too, mom” I said before drinking the cups’ content.

We kept talking for a few minutes when suddenly a strenuous laugh irrupted the entire place and I knew immediately whose laugh it was. Lance was standing right outside the kitchen door, laughing maniacally at something.

“Eugene Fitzherbert! You son of a bitch, you came!” he was finally able to mouth through laughter.

I froze in my seat and looked at the door. Right there, only a few steps away from me, was Eugene standing next to a gorgeous brunette woman I could only assume was his girlfriend. I wanted to sink into a hole and disappear from the situation, good thing was none of them had been alerted of my presence there, and I intended to keep it that way. My parents looked at me worriedly.

“Sweetheart, it looks as if you’ve seen a ghost!” my mom said, I couldn’t keep my gaze away from Eugene and the girl walking towards the counter. We were sitting out of the way, on one of the sides, quite concealed from the eyes of the public, so I had a good chance of getting through this unnoticed.

“Are you alright?” asked my dad, he was attempting to follow my eyesight, trying to figure out what I was so perplexed about. Eugene and the girl were at the counter now, happily hugging Lance and getting up to speed.

“Yes, I am doing good” was all I was able to formulate. I quickly realized I wasn’t forming sentences the right way and shook my head, trying to de-hypnotize myself from the trance I was in. My parents were looking at me worriedly. “Sorry, yes! Just lost in thought!”

The waiter arrived at the table with our orders that minute, and as he was setting my plate, my cup hit his elbow and crashed in the floor making a loud sound, the rosé flowing on the floor. Everyone in the restaurant stopped what they were doing to look our way, including Lance and company. I closed my eyes and waited for a few seconds, but when I opened them again the scene had barely even started. The waiter couldn’t stop apologizing, but my mom and dad kept telling him it was okay, it was only an accident, that he shouldn’t worry. Lance had made his way to our table and told the poor boy not to worry and to bring a bucket to clean up and gather the glass. When the boy left, he looked at the table in order to apologize himself and that’s when he saw me. His face went from a polished smiled ready to greet his clients to a literal frown.

“I swear to you it was an accident” was all I could say “If there was a way for me to become invisible right now, I’d take it” I added quickly, he shook his head and laughed a little.

“You two sure know how to drive me insane” he said before giving me a hug. He turned to my parents and warmly greeted them presenting himself as the chef “Listen,” he added after “we’ll get this cleaned up, and the wine is on the house for the small mishap! Enjoy your food, yeah?”

My parents thanked him as I gave him a sheepish look. When he walked away, the view of the counter opened up and I could see Eugene and his girlfriend staring at Lance, but just before he made it there, our eyes locked up for a brief second. I quickly turned away and tried to focus on the plate in front of me, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to truly enjoy my meal now. The entire situation made me feel as if I had swallowed a rock. My parents kept looking at me, concern filled their eyes.

“What was all of that about?” my dad was the first to ask.

“What did you mean about making yourself invisible?” added my mom. I took a deep breath and tried to find the words to explain the bizarre situation I had unknowingly gotten myself into.

“Umm, there’s a guy at the counter with a girl. We used to date, Lance is his best friend and well, he is kind of my friend too, but we don’t talk much. The thing is, the guy there at the counter and I didn’t end on good terms, and I sure as hell wasn’t expecting to see him here, considering he lives in another country. I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself, but well…”

“Oh, honey… I’m sorry” said my mom grabbing my hand.

“Wait a minute! Is that the guy the baker told me about a few years ago?” my dad asked excitedly “Eugene, was it?”

“Oh, I remember that boy, it was quite a long time ago, sweetheart I’m sure there’s no hard feelings there” mom tried to reassure me.

“I know, I know… It’s just… awkward.” I said shrugging a little and pinching one of my ravioli with my fork and taking a bite. Of course, it was absolutely delicious. Lance had only gotten better with the years, as would be expected. My parents enjoyed their meals thoroughly as well.

Every once in a while, I stole a look at the counter, where Eugene and the girl where sitting having a meal with Lance as well, as he went back and forth from the kitchen to the main saloon. I found myself wondering how different things could have been, maybe he’d be sitting with us and Lance would be truly happy to see me. How sweet it’d have been if he’d met my parents and they’d become his chosen family, maybe my dad would really like him, maybe my mom would treat him as a son. Maybe we wouldn’t have lasted that long and I was just kidding myself. I looked at the girl sitting next to him, as she happily talked to Lance about something while Eugene stared fondly at her and I wished it was me instead.

Again, I shook my head trying to de-hypnotize myself. My parents were talking about the quality of the food and Lance’s incredible cooking talent. I nodded vigorously; Lance was indeed an excellent chef.

“I would really like to see the desserts menu now,” my dad said as I was finishing up my plate. I tried to keep it together but dessert was not an option for me, my stomach was knotted up and I wanted to run away as far as possible. In just a few minutes, my entire weekend had fallen apart. I guess you never know who you’re going to run into when you return home.

“I’m good, I don’t have much space left for dessert, really…” I answered, picking up my purse, getting ready to leave. “I really want to take a walk by the beach, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s no problem, dear, let me ask for the check” my dad answered.

My mom and I walked outside and waited for my dad to return from the counter. I looked at him through the window as he paid the bill, Eugene was just a few steps away from him, sitting in a stool. The scene reminded me of all those summer nights at the Golden Gopher and I felt my heart ache inside my chest. My dad finally came outside and we returned home.

I didn’t go inside the house, I simply got down and walked the short distance to the beach. When I got there, I saw that a there were quite a lot of people enjoying the hot summer day, I took off my vans and headed towards the shore. The sand was boiling hot, so I had to run to the sea to calm the pain my poor feet had endured. Once they were submerged by the cool ocean water, I felt all of my troubles melt away. I closed my eyes and breathed in the salty air surrounding me, thankful for that beautiful day. I opened them again and smiled at the horizon, I loved Corona. It was a magical place. I decided to walk towards the pier, which was quite a while ahead, but I had time and I needed to ponder with myself for a bit. I kept on walking by the shore, the sea washing the stress of the city and my problems away.

What a long day it had been, and it was barely even two in the afternoon. I _had_ seen Eugene at the bus stop then, it hadn’t been a figment of my imagination. I replayed the situation at the restaurant in my head over and over again. How eerie it had been, just like the first time I had seen him at the bar all those years ago, Lance’s loud laughter and Eugene standing in front of the door. It felt like a déjà vu. It had been easier to deal with my heartbreak when he was nowhere to be found, but now that he had been almost close enough to touch it all came rushing back, reminding me that maybe I had never been able to completely shake him off my system and I wondered if the same thing had happened to him. But of course not, the brunette girl came into my mind, making it clear that he had been able to move on just fine.

I walked and walked along the shore, thinking about the many cool things he must have done in the past years, how many adventures he must have had and how many dreams he must have fulfilled. I had done the same after all.

After an hour of walking, I finally arrived at the abandoned pier, it was looking just as it had always done when I was little and Pascal and I would climb it, taking silly pictures staring out into the distance, thinking we looked so profound and deep. I laughed a little remembering those days, there were some fishermen enjoying the sun and having a good time. I sat down for a few minutes in its shadow and rested for a little while, I didn’t have any water with me and the walk home under the burning sun suddenly looked like a challenge.

Once I was feeling strong enough to continue, I stood up and started walking in the opposite direction, eager to get home. I was half-way through the journey when I realized I would probably need help getting back, because no matter how many times I splashed the top of my head with water, I still felt like I was about to faint, which was a problem because I was still in a pretty deserted part of the beach. I knew there was a beach bar nearby but I wouldn’t make it there in time. I couldn’t even see any lifeguards around. I started to panic a little bit and to hyperventilate, which didn’t help my case. I tried to put my hair up in a ponytail, but my arms weren’t strong enough to stay up and get it done. My ears were buzzing and I could feel my entire body covered in sweat. I needed water, quick. I kept on walking a few more steps when everything went to black.

I woke up a few minutes later lying on the sand, I felt a shadow on my face and air hitting me in the neck. I opened my eyes; I took me a while a to focus on what was going on.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to call an ambulance?” I heard a familiar voice speaking above me. I weakly shook my head; I would be alright as soon as I had some water and sugar or salt. “Are you sure?” the voice insisted worriedly “you don’t look so good, Blondie”

My eyes doubled in size and I instantly tried to sit up, but my body wouldn’t move. I really needed to get home; this day could not get any worse. 

“Hey, not so fast, I think you had a heatstroke, here let me help you” Eugene put a hand behind my neck and helped me sit up. “Have some water” he said handing me a bottle as I pulled myself together. I grabbed it and desperately drank some of its content. The water running down my throat felt like happiness, this is how people who got lost in the desert felt like when they found a well. I quickly started to recover, but I still needed to rest. I put the bottle down and looked at Eugene, whose face was full of concern.

“Thank you,” my voice was weak and feeble. “I should be going now” I said as I tried to stand up but failing to do so again. Eugene put an arm around my shoulder and I leaned on him to pull myself up.

“Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s happening, I think you need to see a doctor. Let’s get you in the shade for a while. There’s a bar right there,” he said pointing a few steps ahead “we can call 911.” I didn’t want to be an imposition to him, but I could barely even talk, so I weakly nodded and grabbed onto his arm to walk the short distance towards the bar. I tried to gather up my thoughts, trying to process the situation I was in. I had fainted and the only person around to help me was him, how was that even possible? Was he stalking me? Or were we part of some cruel trick of destiny? A really bad movie?

After what it felt a million years, we arrived at the bar where the blessed AC was on, it felt like I had walked into paradise, Eugene helped me sat down in one of the tables and called for the waiter as I lay my head on the surface, enjoying the cool air surrounding my body. I still felt so incredibly sick, maybe calling an ambulance or my dad was a good idea.

“How can I help you?” the young waiter asked him, “is she alright?” I could feel their eyes on my neck.

“No, she fainted a few minutes ago. Could we have two Cokes, please?” he asked. The waiter didn’t even reply, as soon as Eugene made the order he ran to the fridge and grabbed the sodas, he opened them quickly and set them on the table. I slowly picked up my head to grab the straw and started drinking. The sweet taste of Coca-Cola immediately made me feel a little better. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the change in temperature was now making me shudder, I really needed to rest.

“Okay, I’m calling 911 now” Eugene said promptly. I saw him dial up his phone and talk with the operator. I kept drinking my soda, slowly regaining consciousness despite the rollercoaster my body was in and freaking out about the fact that Eugene Fitzherbert had rescued me from a fucking heatstroke. Eugene hang up and looked at me.

“They said the emergency team at the beach will be here in a few minutes” I slowly nodded and continued to sip my drink. “Why would you walk that far and not bring a water bottle at this hour?” he asked a little bit on edge, after all it was irresponsible of me to have done so.

“It was a spur of the moment decision, I didn’t think things through, I know I’m an idiot” I said looking at him sternly. “I’m sorry” I apologized.

“No, you don’t have to apologize, I’m just thankful I was there, Blondie” he replied calmly. I looked down and nodded again.

“Thank you for helping me out” I was truly thankful. “But you can get back to your girlfriend now if the emergency team is coming, I’ll be fine” I said, my entire body shaking quite violently, my voice breaking. I was starting to get a bit scared, but not because of the heatstroke, but because I think I was about to breakdown crying. Eugene looked at me even more concerned and called the waiter.

“Is there a blanket or a jacket you could give her?” he asked the poor boy who was looking at me from the counter, he looked scared, I must have looked like I was about to die or something. He quickly went behind the counter and came back with a jacket. Eugene stood up and covered my back and shoulders with it. Once again, I started to feel better. “Could you also turn off the AC for a few minutes?” Eugene requested, which the boy promptly carried out. “Better?” said Eugene kneeling next to me and looking at my face. Once again, I could only nod. I inspected his face now that he was close to me. He still had the same polished, handsome features, but some lines had settled around his smile and forehead. His eyes were still warm and soft, and his smile, even thou he wasn’t smiling right then, was probably still as charming and disarming as it had been that first night when sparks flew everywhere.

He stood up and sat in front of me, constantly checking his phone and complaining about the ambulance taking so long. I once again insisted that he could leave, that I would be alright and that his girlfriend would probably be wondering where he was.

“Stop worrying about Stalyan, she’s taking a nap and I won’t leave you until I know you’re safe” he declared adamant. Right that second the emergency team walked into the bar and the boy at the counter pointed towards our table. I tried to explain what had happened but could barely even speak, Eugene stepped in and talked to the nurses. They took one quick look at me and immediately decided that I should be taken to the hospital in order to keep an eye on me for a few hours until my body returned to normal.

We arrived at the hospital a few minutes later, I was put in the emergency room. A doctor came in to do a checkup and after a few minutes he came to conclusion that I was alright, but I did need to stay for a few hours with an IV in order to rehydrate my body and to wait for the blood test to come back. Once the doctor left, Eugene was allowed to walk in and sit next to me, I gave him my phone and asked him to call my parents. He looked at me warily, and I laughed a little. It was both fun and nerve wrecking seeing Eugene trying to explain the situation to my dad over the phone, I would have called them myself but I was too scared my feeble voice would scare them even more than Eugene’s.

It took my parents a total of ten minutes to get to the hospital. They opened the door abruptly and made me jump from my bed, Eugene instantly stood up and stood aside, giving space for my parents to lean over me and look at my face.

“Oh darling, are you alright?” my mom asked me full of concern.

“How did this happen?” my dad asked Eugene incisively. Eugene’s eyes doubled in size while trying to explain to my very upset father what had happened.

“Dad!” I raised my voice, trying to get his attention “It’s my fault, Eugene was just walking by when he saw me faint. I didn’t bring any water with me” my dad turned to look at me “I don’t know what would have happened if he wasn’t there” I added softly. My dad cleared his throat and straightened his shirt.

“Well, in that case young man, thank you” he said calmly and extending a hand to a very confused Eugene. 

“Yes, thank you so, so much” my mom said running to him and giving him a hug before he could even let go of my father’s hand “how can we ever repay you?” my mom asked letting go of him and taking his hand.

“That’s alright, it’s okay. There’s no need to do anything, I’m just glad she’s okay” Eugene said a bit overwhelmed. I looked at the scene unfolding in front of me and once again that grief I had felt earlier at the restaurant came over me. “I should probably go now that you two are here” Eugene added looking at my parents and then at me. I nodded understandingly.

“There has to be something we can do to show our gratitude” my mother said looking at her husband.

“Oh, I know!” said my dad excitedly “Tomorrow night I’m throwing quite a birthday party at the local club, I’m turning 50, and I would like to invite you and a companion to join us. There’ll be plenty of food and music and practically the entire town is coming, so you’re sure to find some other people you know there.”

My jaw dropped; I wasn’t expecting that. My mom gave me a puzzled look, wondering what was so wrong about the invitation. Eugene looked at him confounded, and not knowing how to refuse, nodded and said he’d be there.

“Excellent! The party starts at 8pm, we’ll be happy to see you there” My father took his hand again and shook it eagerly. My mom smiled up at him, Eugene cleared his throat, gave one final look at me and waved goodbye. I waved back from the bed and mouthed a _‘thank you’_. He closed the door behind him. I gave my dad a stern look.

“What is it, sweetheart?” my mother came to my side and grabbed my hand.

“Well, dad just kind of invited my ex and his girlfriend to his birthday party” My dad put a hand on his mouth.

“Oh no, that was the guy from the restaurant, wasn’t it?” he asked anxiously.

“Yes!” I answered before he could even finish the question.

My mom looked at my dad and then at me and started laughing. I followed her and quickly my dad joined in. We laughed for a few minutes, trying to process the entire situation. What a day! What a family! I replayed Eugene’s face in my head when my dad inquired about what had happened, and his face when he was invited to the party. Poor man, maybe he was better off staying out of our insanity, but it did make me a quite happy to see all of us together.

A few hours later we went home and I was finally able to take a bath, I had to wash my hair three times to get all of the sand out of it. After that I took a long nap, so long in fact I even missed dinner. I woke up at around 11:30pm and went down to the kitchen to see if there were any left overs. My parents were already in bed. I opened the fridge and found some salad and few pieces of chicken in a bowl. I grabbed them and took them all upstairs along with a bottle of water.

I sat in my bed having dinner while watching some TikToks when I heard a sound outside my window. I locked my phone and waited for a few seconds, I was about to get back to my phone when I heard it again, it was a small clicking sound, as if a rock had been thrown at my window. I put the bowl down on my bed and walked towards the window, pulling the curtains and opening the glass doors. I entered my balcony and leaned down on the reel, only to find Eugene standing in the garden, ready to throw another rock at my window.

“Um, you could text me?” I whispered to him.

“I lost your number” he whispered back. Right, 5 years had passed. People change and lose phones. “Can we talk?” he added. I sighed and told him to wait there.

I walked downstairs in a hurry, I knew I shouldn’t have been happy to see him, but I couldn’t hide my excitement. I opened the door to the garden and walked up to him. He was wearing a white t-shirt and dark jeans holding his leather jacket in his hands, much like the first time I’d seen him.

“How are you feeling?” he asked softly. I motioned for him to follow me into the garden, so we could talk without whispering.

“I’m alright, I took a nap and a bath and I feel fine, I was having dinner just now” I answered quite happily, trying to ease his worry.

“Okay, great” he said letting out a sigh of relief “you really scared me out there, you know?”

I lay down on the grass on a secluded part of the garden, and stared at the stars for a few seconds before answering. He lay down next to me. It was a beautiful night, the moon was bright, so bright we could see each other perfectly.

“I can imagine, I scared myself. I knew I was going to faint and I knew the place was deserted. Thank god you were there” I smiled up at him, and so did he in return. “Why were you there, by the way? Were you stalking me?”

“What!? No!” he replied laughing. “I was also walking towards the pier, I needed to think, but I took water with me, unlike some people I know”

“I told you it was an impulsive decision, I just started walking! I also needed to think” I had so many questions to ask him, what did he need to think about? Had seeing me at the restaurant had the same effect it had had on me? But I decided to ask something more courageous and important “Why are you here, Eugene?”

“I don’t know” he answered earnestly but putting his hands on his face because of the frustration “I mean, I wanted to know if you were okay after what happened today but…” he stopped for a few seconds, his hands now resting at his side, his face facing the stars, I kept looking at him “I don’t know, it’s like I’m drawn to you, like a moth to a flame.” He looked at me. “And when you’re far away I’m fine, and I’m happy but then I see you and my whole world turns upside down. I don’t know what to do because it ends up in heartbreak every time, but here I am, throwing pebbles at your window, like a 17-year-old. I can never leave it well enough alone” he ran his hands through his hair exasperatedly. I kept looking at him for a few seconds and laughed a little bit.

“We never painted by the numbers, but damn it we made it count” I said laughing a little bit staring at his face. He nodded eagerly. “Do you ever think about how things would be if I hadn’t turned you away all those years ago?” I tried to resist myself from asking that question, but the temptation to know its answer was bigger than my fear of getting hurt. He thought for a few seconds, reminiscing that fateful night.

“All the time” he answered softly “Would everything be different today if that one thing had been different? That’s the question I ask myself whenever you pop into my mind” I hugged my figure and took a deep breath, the sadness of it all washing over me. We were silent for a few minutes, uncertain of what to say. I thought about our summer together, and one particular memory came into my mind.

“Do you remember that summer night we found a fountain and threw in some pennies?” I asked weakly. He nodded. “What’d you wish for?” He shook his head and laughed a little.

“No, I can’t tell you, it’s silly…”

“C’mon! Wait, did you wish for another bike?” I laughed a bit more loudly remembering the time he’d told me he used to panic and wish for silly things on his birthdays.

“No! I didn’t wish for a bike” he said matter-of-factly but laughing along with me. When the laughter died, he let out a sigh “I wished for you to change your mind” he admitted softly. I looked at him, tears forming in my eyes. “You see, I was pretty much head-over-heels by then, but you were still insisting on that silly summer thing. So, I wished for you to change your mind”

I tried to push back the tears threatening to fall down. I wanted to tell him I had changed my mind, the wish had come true, maybe a bit later than he had hoped for, but I did love him, very, very much. And I wanted to show him just how much I loved him but I took a deep breath, trying to pull all of that in. He was with Stalyan now, so no good would come of telling him.

“Why’d you come to Corona?” I asked trying to change the subject, the last thing he needed was a confession of my undying love for him right now.

“Well, Lance had asked me to come meet his baby, aka his restaurant, and I thought it was a good time to bring Stalyan to meet him and my dad.”

“How is your dad?” I followed quickly.

“How many questions do you get?” he said giving me a side smile which disarmed me. “He’s alright, he’s old but Lance visits him constantly and they have lunch together almost every day. I also call daily and help him with things over the internet, like paying his bills and everything. He’s really happy we’re here. How’s Pascal?” he was finally able to chime in a question.

“Oh, he’s great! He’s coming over tomorrow, you’ll be able to ask him yourself at the party” We stopped talking for a few seconds, but I couldn’t stop myself from snooping a little bit more. “How did you and Stalyan meet?” He made a silly sound, like a grunt before answering.

“Through Tinder” he said bringing his hands to his face one more time, this time I sensed because of shame. He laughed after that small ordeal and I did so as well.

“Ah, the great twenty-first century love story, meeting people through the internet” I declared as he laughed again.

“Hey, it may not be as romantic as meeting on a stormy night at a bar, but she’s pretty amazing. Our first date was at a Sunday matinee” I looked at his face, he was staring at the stars thinking of her, and it made me sad. I didn’t want it too, but it did nonetheless.

“We never went on a date” I added a few minutes later. We were both staring at the night sky above us, adorned with a million shinning stars.

“Nope” he answered seconds later. “You never gave us the chance” I closed my eyes and nodded slowly, trying to keep the sadness and the tears buried inside. “And it’s your loss, I plan amazing dates” he said and we both laughed, thou it still broke my heart.

“We were really something” I finally said, leaning my head against his shoulder, still looking at the sky above us, my voice almost breaking. “It’d been fun” I added as he reached for my hand and laid his head on mine “if you’d been the one” our fingers intertwined with one another and we both let out a sigh at the exact same time, which made us laugh. I pulled my head away to look at him, his nose inches from my face. I closed my eyes and leaned into him.

Our lips touched and we instantly melted into the other. His free hand reaching under my t-shirt, circling my waist, mine on his cheek keeping him in place. We couldn’t pull away, in fact all we did was get closer and closer to each other. I knew it was supposed to feel wrong because he was in a relationship but when it came to Eugene, I always felt like we were somehow destined to be together. Every time we came together like this it felt as if absolutely no one else in this world had ever loved anyone as intensely and profoundly as we had been loving each other all this time. Ours was the greatest love of all time.

It also felt like I was digging up my own grave. Because Eugene would probably go back to his girlfriend who had never broken his heart, and I wouldn’t judge him. Why would he want to stay with me after all the heartbreak I’d made him go through? And I shuddered to think that I would be waking up alone again the next morning, without his arms to make me feel like home.

We kissed for what it felt like an eternity, but eventually he had to pull away. Our little bubble had to pop sometime, we were borrowing time we did not have. We both knew it was time to say goodbye.

“I’m sorry” I said as we sat up on the grass. Staring at the garden in front of us.

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry” he replied softly, brushing his mouth with his hand. “I have no defense; I knew what I was getting myself into. I always know when it’s you” he added beaten.

I looked at him, tears once again filling my eyes. I wanted to ask him to stay with me, but the words wouldn’t come to my mouth, I couldn’t bring myself to ruin him again. We stood up and looked at each other mournfully, each one waiting for something to make the other understand that maybe, just maybe things could work out if we were brave enough to try again. But no one gave the first step. No one dared to say anything else.

He leaned into my forehead and kissed me one last time before walking away through the garden gate.

I walked back home thinking that the greatest films of all time are never made, but lived through.


	13. Endgame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And you understand the good and bad, end up in the song  
> For all your beautiful traits, and the way you do it with ease  
> For all my flaws, paranoia, and insecurities

I woke up late the next morning. It had taken me a while to fall asleep after Eugene left, I tossed and turned trying to calm myself down from the rush of emotions I was experiencing. Adrenaline because of that one perfect kiss, shame for having kissed him in the first place when I knew for a fact he had a girlfriend, but still pushing him into that direction, no matter how spontaneous it had felt. Sadness for how things had turned out and guilt for being the reason they had turned out that way. I wanted once again to sink into a hole and disappear. Worst of all, I would have to see him the next night at my father’s party and with her by his side, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it, I’d probably run away from it all.

I woke up at noon, my parents had let me sleep in because of the incident at the beach on the previous day. I walked down stairs only to be interrupted by the doorbell ringing. I opened the door to find Pascal on the other side.

“Where’s your swimsuit?” was the first thing he asked “It’s already noon, and I am not planning on wasting another minute away from the beach” he walked inside, I was still wearing my pajamas.

“Just let me get some breakfast first and then we can go, okay?” I said trying to sound as cheerful as possible, but Pascal saw right through me.

“What’s wrong? Why are your eyes so puffed?” I let out a defeated sigh before answering.

“Eugene is in town” I knew better than to keep things from Pascal, this time I would be upfront and honest, plus venting would feel really good. We walked into the kitchen.

“Oh no” he said before taking off his glasses and sitting in one of the kitchen chairs.

“Yeah, and we saw each other three times yesterday” I opened the fridge and pulled out a yogurt and some fruit while Pascal’s mouth fell open and his eyes doubled in size.

“What? Hold on, ho- whe- WHY?” Pascal couldn’t choose which question to ask first, I sat at the table next to him and opened my yogurt, sighs coming out of my mouth every two seconds.

I explained to Pascal everything that had happened the previous day and night. He just listened to my story transfixed by it and gasping at every new piece of information I gave him.

“Wait, so you kissed him?”

“Yes”

“And he kissed you back?”

“Yes”

“And he has a girlfriend” that last one wasn’t a question, but an affirmation.

“Yes” I answered, putting my head in my hands and sighing for the millionth time that day.

“You need a margarita” he added after, laughing at my predicament.

“As long as you don’t mix it” I gave him a side smile, remembering that night at the bar Eugene had knocked the tall margarita glass to the floor just to spare me from drinking it. My heart hurt a little at the memory.

“So, is he coming tonight?” he added a little after.

“I don’t know! I guess!” I flung my arms in the air exasperated. I was dreading seeing him again, I wasn’t sure how I would react, I don’t know why I got the feeling I would probably burst into tears and run away.

“What will you wear?” he asked smiling devilishly. I gave him and incredulous look.

“What does it matter? He’ll be dancing the night away with his gorgeous girlfriend, and I’ll be at the bar, drinking”

“How long have they been dating?”

“What’s that have to do with anything?” I said scooping one final spoonful of yogurt.

“Well, he’s clearly been in love with you for five years, so if they’ve been dating for a few months, I’d say you have a chance to break them up” he declared.

“Pascal! I am not trying to break them up, that’s insane!” I exclaimed while standing up to clean up the table, walking towards the sink.

“Do you love him?” he asked gravely. I turned around and looked at him, fear creeping into my eyes.

“I don’t know. I thought I was over him until I saw him yesterday! And I don’t even know him for real, it’s been five years” I stared at the floor hugging my figure.

“Bullshit, when you know you know, and I don’t know anyone else in this world that as soon as they see their past flames or whatever you and Eugene were, has these kinds of meltdowns as you do, no one Rapunzel!”

I stared up at him from the sink, trying to figure out if he was right. I did have a history of freaking out and falling all over myself whenever Eugene came into the picture, but did that mean I was madly in love with him or that I just wanted what I couldn’t have? Was it fair of me to meddle in his relationship when he was clearly happy? I hadn’t given him anything except for heartbreak each time, what if I ruined it all again? He was probably far better off with Stalyan than me.

“I am not breaking them up, that’s final” I said adamantly while giving Pascal a stern stare.

“Okay, whatever you say, but I won’t follow you up to London when you are trying to stop their wedding, I hate that city. Now, can we please go to the beach?” He said putting his hands in praying position.

* * *

I lay down in bed trying to put my mind to rest, but I couldn’t stop replaying the day in my mind. Her parents, her lack of judgement, her overwhelming sweetness, her mouth, her body, her lips. I took a deep a breath and closed my eyes, Stalyan fast asleep next to me had barely even noticed my midnight walk. I wanted to cuddle her up and try to fall into slumber hugging her figure, but I was crippled by my own guilt and sadness. I eventually fell asleep, thinking of long blonde hair and midnight skies.

Stalyan woke me up the next morning, ready to enjoy the warm summer day at the beach, before having to come back and get ready for this party we had been invited to. I couldn’t tell her that the girl I had helped at the beach and I had been… something. She had been so happy I was at the beach in the right moment, ready to help someone out, I couldn’t ruin the story for her, plus I wouldn’t know how she would have reacted had I told her the truth. I had never told anyone about Rapunzel, those who knew was because they had been involved in our unfortunate love story, and they never dared to bring it up, mainly because I never brought it up myself. I had somehow tried to bury her inside of my subconscious, I wanted to keep her a secret, a secret so well kept that someday would have to vanish inside of my memories. But then, she appeared right in front of me and my entire system would go off the charts, ready to succumb again and again and again into her arms, ready to get hurt, ready to endure such heartbreak for only a few moments with her.

Stalyan was excited when I told her about the party, even when I had told her I didn’t feel like it. She insisted until I finally caved in and agreed to go, at least for an hour or two. She jumped in excitement and immediately went into her suitcase to find something to wear. She finally decided that nothing was good enough, so before going to the beach, she would go out shopping for something and I couldn’t accompany her because she wanted her outfit to be a surprise.

She had already left on her shopping adventure when Lance barged into the apartment as I was having breakfast with a look on his face that said _‘what the hell do you think you’re doing’_

“Um, good morning?” I asked looking at him expectantly. He was on the counter now, sitting in front of me, giving me that stern look he had walked in with. “Can I help you with something or are you here only to make me uncomfortable as I eat my toast?”

“I just bumped into Stalyan on my way to the restaurant” he started calmly “And she informed me she was going shopping because you two have a party tonight. Now, I was confused because I thought you had said you had no plans for tonight, so I asked your dear Stalyan whose party you were so diligently been invited to on such short notice, and she told me it was Frederic Der Sonne’s party and I had to ask her again, because I must have most certainly misheard her, but she repeated that same name. I shook my head in disbelief, because why would Eugene be invited to that one party in particular? What could possible warrant and invitation from the man who basically owns town?” My face was now full of guilt and regret as he continued his speech. He was now standing up, pacing back and forth the length of the counter ”Oh, well, she was delighted to tell me that you had rescued his daughter just yesterday at the beach and that he was so kind to invite you both in a gesture of gratitude” He stopped in front of me and placed his hands on the counter, giving me the most lethal look he had ever given me “What the hell did you do?”

I let out a sigh and told him the entire story, even my stupid walk to her house and our conversation. Once I finished, Lance, who had been shaking his head the entire time, just looked at me and asked: “Why?”

“I told you I don’t know why, it’s just what happens whenever she’s near, I lose track of everything”

“So, you’re telling me that if she called you up right now because she needs you, you’d go for it?”

“Considering how stupid I get whenever she’s around I’d probably go to her, yes”

“Okay, you need to snap out of it, I don’t know how I’m gonna do it, but you need help. I gotta help you remember, I guess” he poured himself a glass of water and continued “Five years ago, winter, the airport, you looked like a piece of shit, you hadn’t slept all night, you walked to the hotel in the pouring rain and almost missed your flight because she had turned you down”

“I know, I kn-”

“You called me every day for three months to vent about that when you were in London, you couldn’t let it go, I had to create you a tinder profile so you could at least forget about her for five minutes”

“Lance, I know what-”

“No, you clearly don’t! Her reputation precedes her at this point, she’s been playing you for far too long, I don’t want to see you throw something good away because of her” he was tired of the situation, I could see it in his eyes. “You’re walking on thin ice here, if you go to that party Stalyan is going to find out something’s up, and I’m afraid you’ll lose her because of Rapunzel. She already made you make a huge mistake last night”

“Lance, I promise I won’t even go near Rapunzel, we’ll be there for an hour or two at most and then we’ll head to the restaurant” I tried to calm him down whilst I tried to make up my mind that Rapunzel wouldn’t be an obstacle at the party.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, man” he said before heading for the door “I gotta go to work, but answer me this first, has she ever told you she loved you during that one stupid summer, during that week in Vardaros or last night?” he looked at me gravely.

“No” I answered truthfully.

“That’s what I thought, see you later, okay?” and with that he closed the door behind him. He was right. Rapunzel clearly wasn’t in love with me. I was always the one who showed up, I was always the one who made the first call, who threw the pebble at her window. She had never come after me, and I was done, for good.

* * *

I walked into the club with my parents at 8pm, it was all already decorated with a sign over the huge cake saying “Happy 50th Frederic!”

My dad was wearing a dark purple shirt with a charcoal jacket and pants, looking very dashing. My mom on the other hand was wearing a dark purple dress, to match with his shirt and some comfy black heels, together they looked like the picture perfect of happiness, gliding around the ballroom, saying hi to all the different guests arriving.

I had bought my dress over a month before the party, I was so excited to wear it, I had seen it going around on TikTok and even thou I wasn’t much for falling for the latest trends, this dress had captured my mind and driven me insane. As soon as my dad told me he would be throwing a big party for his birthday I knew I had to buy it, it was the perfect occasion. Its fabric was a soft pink and it was adorned everywhere with sparkly strawberries, it fell down to my calves and its cleavage was deeper than I was used to, but I felt so pretty in it I couldn’t possibly care. For makeup I had opted for a light pink look in the eyes and cheeks but a strong and beautiful red lipstick framed my lips in composure with my outfit. My hair was up in a gorgeous bun my mom had helped me put together with some strands of hair falling, framing my face. All in all, I felt like a princess, and I was glad to say that everyone coming to the party seemed to agree with me.

“Oh, my! Rapunzel, you look so incredibly beautiful in that dress, it’s absolutely gorgeous!” a nice woman my father had worked with years ago told me as soon as she saw me. That was the first of many compliments I received as people approached me to say hello.

“Well, good thing is Eugene will fall right to your feet once he sees you” Pascal said from behind, making me jump “you won’t need to break them up, he’ll leave her for you”

“Ha-ha, very funny” I answered sarcastically “Thank you for reminding me he’s coming tonight, now I remember why I was so eager to get to the bar” I grabbed his arm and headed towards the open bar my dad had been generous enough to pay for, I wasn’t going let it go to waste.

It was already 9pm and canapes and hors d’oeuvres were in full swing all across the ballroom, many couples were dancing the jazzy songs my father had requested the band to play but Pascal and I were still at the bar enjoying the cocktails.

“Now this is a margarita!” I said tipsily pointing at my glass and staring at Pascal, he started laughing uncontrollably as he drank his third mojito.

“You’re so drunk, that’s like your fourth one and you’re just now realizing it’s good?”

“What!? This is my fourth already? I better put a stop to this right now!” I put the glass on the counter and looked at Pascal playfully “with some dancing!” I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the dance floor. We were making fools of ourselves dancing like two idiots to the swing song that had just started, enjoying the breeze coming in from the opened doors that led into the garden, which was adorned with lights all around it. So far, the night had been wonderful, I wondered what else it had in store.

* * *

I had had to go shopping as well because Stalyan’s new dress was so nice nothing I had in my suitcase would work with it. She had bought a gorgeous black dress with golden stars all over it, her hair was braided and adorned with moon and stars clips that matched the rest of her outfit. She looked radiant as she made her way into the ballroom, gasping at the bright decorations and the amount of people there. Frederic was right, I could already see many people I knew around the place, enjoying the food and drinks. I had opted for a pair of black pants and shirt, no tie. And I had had to borrow one of my dad’s old pair of shoes, which luckily fit perfectly and weren’t making my feet hurt.

As we walked into the brightly lit ballroom, I scanned the room, but Rapunzel was fortunately nowhere to be found. I was about to ask Stalyan what did she want to do when someone grabbed me by the shoulder.

“Here he is! The hero of the hour!” I heard Frederic shout as he turned me around “Gentlemen, this is the man I was just telling you about, thanks for coming son!” he said grabbing my hand and shaking it firmly, just like the previous day. “Remind me what your name is, I would like to introduce you” I was a little flabbergasted by the entire situation, particularly about his calling me son.

“I’m Eugene Fitzherbert” I said grabbing Stalyan’s hand who was next to me, “and this is my girlfriend, Stalyan Baron”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Stalyan” Frederic said “Eugene here is quite clearly a very good man, you hang on to him” he added, which made her smile, I was still quite put off by the scene unfolding, Frederic clearly didn’t know about my past with his daughter, or didn’t care much for that matter.

“Eugene Fitzherbert?” said one of the men that were accompanying Frederic “ _The_ Eugene Fitzherbert who covered the story of corruption within Vardaros’ congress?” he asked rather intrigued. I cleared my throat and nodded firmly. The men all around them changed their expression to one of severity.

“That was one hell of a story you did, young man. Very thorough, and brave from such a young person, it has given you quite a reputation…” another one added, I wasn’t sure if he was complimenting my work or threatening me, after all I had made some pretty powerful enemies with that story, and these men looked like they had been rubbed the wrong way by it. Frederic’s face had definitely changed to one of surprise, I guess he clearly didn’t know anything about me.

“Well, thank you. It’s nice to know my work has made an impact” I replied gravely. He was about to add something else when Frederic interrupted him.

“There she is!” he said walking towards someone else in the room “Darling, Eugene and his girlfriend are here, I’m certain you’d want to say hello” she pulled her into the small gathering of people and I saw her for the first time that night. She didn’t look like a human; she was certainly some kind of alien that had arrived to this planet only to ruin my life with her beauty. I had to discreetly take a deep breath and get it done with. A quick hello, nice to see you’re alright and then goodnight. Her cheeks were red and her breath was ragged as if she had been dancing for a long time.

“Hi! It’s nice to see you” she said as casually as she could, and stretched her hand to me. I almost gave it an incredulous look but quickly grabbed it and shook it softly, trying to completely ignore the rush of emotions I felt whenever we touched.

“I know you!” suddenly Stalyan said “you’re Rapunzel, I follow you on Instagram! Gosh, your paintings are mesmerizing!” Stalyan quickly stretched her hand and shook it excitedly.

“Oh, thank you so much!” Rapunzel answered happily, smiling up at her. “I love your dress, by the way, it’s gorgeous!”

“Oh, well, thank you, same for your dress. I had seen the infamous strawberry dress in social media, but I didn’t expect it to be so pretty in person!”

What the hell. How was it that women could bond so easily? I could already tell Stalyan was excited to keep talking to her, when all I wanted to do was to run away from the situation.

“Eugene, you didn’t tell me you had saved someone famous!” Stalyan suddenly pulled me into their conversation. I tried to find the words to respond without sounding like an idiot.

“Um, well, probably because I didn’t know she _is_ famous” I answered truthfully, but before one of them could continue, Frederic barged in again.

“Well, Rapunzel didn’t tell me Eugene was a famous journalist either, so I know how you feel” I needed a break, my mind was about to explode.

* * *

“Well, dad, probably because of Eugene’s same reason, I didn’t know he is famous. You know I have a reputation for not keeping up with the news” I added, trying to sound as calm as possible. I actually did keep up with the latest news, I just didn’t keep up with him in social media, I had unfollowed him ages ago, and so had he.

“Well,” my dad started up again.

“Dad, I’m sure Eugene and Stalyan want to go do something else, why don’t we let them be?” I interrupted him.

“You’re right, as always darling” with that him and his friends moved along and I gave Eugene and Stalyan one final nod and walked away.

“Wait a minute!” I suddenly heard Stalyan shout “how do you know my name?” I stopped in my tracks and froze for a second. I turned around and gave a quick look to Eugene, which Stalyan saw clear as day. She kept looking at us, suspicion slowly growing in her eyes.

“Um, Eugene told me your name yesterday, at the hospital” I lied quickly, Eugene gave an enthusiastic nod while looking at Stalyan.

“Oh, okay then” she said, shrugging her shoulders and letting me go once and for all. I needed another drink.

Seeing Eugene with Stalyan had made all the energy in my body to slip away, and all that was left was my raging desire to get drunk and forget about them. She was absolutely gorgeous and nice, I couldn’t believe how wonderful she was, Eugene had clearly not mentioned anything to her about his little trip to my garden, and I felt guilt consume me the entire time talking to her. And Eugene had no right looking that good, why? Why did he have to be so incredibly cute? I couldn’t stand him and his stupid face. His hazel eyes were addictive, like a sweet liquor and he was wearing all black, but I could swear his body shone like gold to me.

Pascal, who had been in the bathroom the whole time finally returned, only to find me at the bar drinking yet another margarita.

“What happened? Why do you look like a sad puppy?” I looked up at him and he understood immediately “Oh, you saw them” I nodded while taking another sip of my drink.

I wanted the night to end, I wanted the weekend to be done with, I just wanted to go back home and I wanted Eugene to leave for London with his perfect girlfriend and never have to see him again.

Pascal had joined me drinking, and after a few more margaritas we found ourselves once again on the dance floor, him trying to make my problems melt away and me too drunk to care about them. I was thankful for my best friend; he was truly amazing.

We had been dancing and drinking for quite some time when the band called everyone up to the middle of the room and invited us all to sing happy birthday to my dad. I quickly told Pascal I had to go and went to look for my parents. I was trying to get past the congregation of people when out of the corner of my eye I saw them, they were at the far end of the room, softly dancing, ignoring the rest of the people at the party, just marching to their own rhythm, they looked like an image stripped right out of a movie. I couldn’t stand it; it had suddenly hit me like a bang on the head with a frying pan. I had to hold back a sob and shake my head to get the image of them together like that out of it. It was unbearable, but I had to keep going.

I finally reached my parents and gave them a hug, trying to put a smile on my face and look as happy as possible for them. Everybody sang happy birthday to him as he blew out the candles and finally cheered for him in a thunderous clap.

Suddenly, everyone in the room started mouthing together the word: _‘Speech! Speech! Speech!’_ As my dad was given a mic from one of the men in the band.

“I don’t know how to thank you all for being here, if there’s one thing I am grateful for after all these years is for being able to call every single one of you my friends” my dad was great at public speaking, it had always made everyone wonder why he had never wanted to run for mayor of Corona. “When you become an old fellow like I have just become today, there’s few things you realize you truly need to be happy. The first one,” he said stopping for a pause of anticipation “a good wine” the guests started laughing, as my dad rose his cup filled with red wine in the air. “The second,” he stopped again to make sure everyone was paying attention “good friends” and he made the motion for everyone to cheer with him “and last, but most certainly not least” he said looking at me and my mom “my family” Everyone in the room gave one final _‘aww’_ in unison as my mom and I hugged him tightly.

“To Frederic!” one of the men in the crowd shouted, and everyone finally clinked their glasses together, some cheering with wine, some others with champagne. I had been given a glass of rosé by one of the waiters, and as I clicked my glass with my parents’ a few tears started streaming down my face.

“Oh, darling, are you alright?” asked my mom worriedly.

“Yes, yes” I said clearing away my face “I’m just emotional” I confessed. And I truly was, dad’s speech combined with that damned image of Eugene and Stalyan together were messing up with my emotions. “I just need some air” I told them before kissing each of them on the cheek and drinking the rest of my glass.

As the cake was carefully being cut into pieces and I was finally free to leave my parents side, I went into the garden. It was a warm summer night, one of those nights you don’t even need a light jacket to go out with. The garden looked beautiful, lights were up lighting up the nice deck outside, filled with tables and seats where people were resuming their conversations and just having a good time. I walked to the far end of the deck, were almost no one was sitting and just sat there alone, trying to bury everything I was feeling inside, fighting back tears.

A few minutes passed as I tried to recompose myself, wishing I would never have to see Eugene again after the party, when both of them walked out of the ballroom and stood right in front of me in what seemed to be a blissful moment, spinning around and kissing each other, ignorant of my figure hiding in the shadows. I quickly grabbed a napkin and started to wipe away any trace of tears on my face. Stalyan saw something move out of the corner of her eye and recognized me.

“Sorry, I was just leaving” I told them standing up and starting to walk away. But Stalyan put a hand on my shoulder.

“Wait! I wanted to ask you something, oh sorry… Are you alright?” I clearly needed to fix my makeup then, damn it she was gorgeous.

“Yes, birthdays make me emotional” I lied to her again, I could see Eugene grabbing the bridge of his nose, as if I were a headache he was trying to get rid of.

“Oh, I guess that’s normal though, I get emotional on my father’s birthdays as well” she confessed laughing a little. I tried to mimic her but I could barely even produce a laugh. “I know this is not the time to be asking this, but I was wondering if I could commission a piece of yours” she asked me excitedly “I’ve been wanting to decorate our apartment for a while now, and your paintings are just so gorgeous” I did try to smile up at her but the new information I had just been given almost made me bolt for the door.

“You’re living together?” I asked, it was more of a rhetoric question, but she answered anyway.

“Yes, we moved in together a few weeks ago, we’re in downtown Equis” my eyes snapped, I thought he was still in London.

“You live in Vardaros?” I asked looking at him and then returning my gaze to her. How long had he been living in the city?

“Oh, that’s right! You live there, too, right?” Poor Stalyan was still oblivious to everything that was going on in my head and Eugene’s as well. Eugene was staring at the floor; I could see him sighing a little.

“Yes, I’ve been living there for five years now” I said looking at her, “permanently, in the same address” I added, holding myself back from looking at him. Stalyan gave me a weird look before continuing.

“Well, I have to go to the restroom, but I’d love to tell you my idea if you don’t mind, could you wait here for a minute?” I nodded at her “Eugene, do not let her go” he smiled at her, a fake smile I could see from a mile away. As Stalyan made her way into the ballroom Eugene shot me a deathly look.

“I am not decorating my apartment with one of your paintings” he said firmly.

“You are living in Vardaros and you didn’t think to tell me” I retorted angrily, walking up to him.

“Why is that any of your business?” he added indignant, he must have thought I was crazy at this point.

“Because I love you!” I shouted and instantly covered my mouth with one hand. He looked at me, I couldn’t tell if he was shocked, angry, surprised. My heart was beating at 100 miles per hour. The confession had made my entire body come alive; I was standing up looking at him as he tried to process what I had just said.

“You’re bluffing” he said a few seconds later. My hand fell from my mouth, I was done keeping it all inside. I wanted to come clean once and for all.

“I am in love with you, and I have been for five years, but I’ve buried it inside and I’ve tried to forget it but I just couldn’t. I was in love with you the night you ended things that summer, but I was too much of a coward so I didn’t tell you. I was in love with you when you left Vardaros that night, but I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it was fair to ask you to stay and forget about your career. I am in love with you right now, and last night in the garden, and at the beach and at the restaurant. It’s like you said, if I don’t see you, I am okay and I guess I’m happy but then you show up and my entire world turns upside down and all I wanna do is be with you, like a moth and a flame. I can’t let you go, it’s like you left your hand printed in my soul. I am in love with you”

Eugene was standing in front of me, frozen in place, his eyes locked in mine, I couldn’t read his expression, I didn’t know what he was feeling, but I had started talking and I couldn’t stop the truth from coming out of my red lips.

“And I don’t care if you have a girlfriend that’s really nice, because damn it, she is perfect and I bet she’s never broken your heart like I have, but if you feel even a little bit the same as me” I said walking up closer to him and grabbing his hands, “then I am begging you to give us a chance, because I am finally ready to say yes” tears had started streaming down my face, he untangled one of his hands to clean up one of my cheeks, I leaned into his touch and closed my eyes, my heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest, but I was happy I had told him, after all those years, I had finally arrived to the conclusion that he was my endgame. That he was it for me.

“Why didn’t you-” he started mouthing when Stalyan popped our bubble.

“What’s going on?” I heard her say from the door, I quickly stepped away and dried my tears with my hands. She looked really upset as if she had been listening for a while. This is what I did, this is what I brought to his life: drama. “What’s this about finally saying yes? Didn’t you two just meet yesterday?” I shook my head, answering her question before turning my gaze down to the floor. Eugene’s face was full of worry and fear, he took a step towards Stalyan but she took a step back, before turning completely away and walking towards the door. Eugene gave me one final look, I could tell there was a mixture of annoyance and longing in his eyes, before following her out of the party. I sat down in one of the chairs, and tried to recover myself.

* * *

“Stalyan, wait!” I said running after her in the street. “I can explain!” I kept shouting as she ran away from me. Suddenly she stopped abruptly and turned around to look at me.

“You can explain!?” she was fuming, I could see the rage in her eyes “You’ve lied to my face how many times since yesterday?” she was walking up to me, anger growing in her voice “God damn it, Eugene! You pretended you didn’t know each other in my face!” She couldn’t stop shouting, and I knew she was right, I had been a terrible boyfriend for the last 24 hours. “Did you two agree to lie to my face or did you play along with her game?” she was pointing at me with her index finger but then she threw her hands in the air while shaking her head “No, you know what? I don’t even wanna know! I don’t want to know!” she turned around and kept walking, I could hear her grunting and fuming as the distance grew between us. I ran up to her and took her hand, which she quickly made me let go of. “How long have you known each other?” she said coming up to my face.

“Five years, we kinda dated when we were younger” I admitted. She looked up at the sky in exasperation.

“What’s that supposed to mean ‘kinda dated’?” she asked mocking me, I was about to explain it to her when she interrupted me “And I wanted to decorate the living-room with her paintings” she shouted before storming away again. I kept following her as she walked in fury, grunting and shouting “You made me look like an idiot in front of everyone!” the anger was finally melting away and the anguish was starting to become clearer in her voice. She walked for another block before she finally found a square and sat in one of the benches. “I saw you put your hand on her cheek, you’ve never looked at me that way…” She was crying now, but there was nothing I could do to make her feel better, I had fucked up and she deserved better than this “Did something else happen between you two yesterday?” I sat on the other extreme of the bench and sighed.

“We kissed last night” I confessed “I went to her house and we kissed, I didn’t try to stop it” Stalyan couldn’t even look at me, she put her face in her hands and cried for a while. After a few minutes she cleaned her tears and stood up looking at me.

“I could have never guessed that something so good could burn in ashes so quickly” I tried to open my mouth to protest but she didn’t let me. “So, I am giving you a chance to fix this” she stared at me sternly “but you have to be fucking honest with me and with yourself” she stopped for a second in order to wait for my agreement, I nodded.

* * *

There were barely any people left at the party. The band was playing a lovely slow tune and a few couples were swaying softly to its rhythm. I stared at them transfixed, sitting in a table outside. My parents were saying goodbye to some friends at the door, Pascal had already left, he wanted to wake up early and go to the beach the next day. I was sitting on my own, sighing at the couples and trying not break down into tears once again. Hours had passed, Stalyan and Eugene were nowhere to be found, so I had made up my mind that they were probably back in his apartment sleeping, having fixed up the mess I had caused.

“Can I have this dance?” I heard Eugene’s voice say from behind me. I turned around in a flash, gasping at the sound of him. He wasn’t smiling, he looked beaten and tired, the first buttons of his shirt undone and his hair rather tussled. His gaze was intense and, I was scared to admit it, but I think I also saw sadness in his eyes as well.

He extended his hand to me and I grabbed it, instantly melting into his touch. We didn’t go up to the dance floor, we just stood there, swaying in silence. I leaned my head on his shoulder and breathed in his perfume, intoxicating every little part of me as always. He put his head on mine and took a deep breath. We stood there like that for a while, enjoying each other’s company. No words were needed, no reasons were given for his return.

The music eventually stopped, we were the last people left at the party, even my parents were gone by the time we woke up from the small dream we were having. I pulled my head back to look at him and he leaned down, our foreheads touching.

“What happened?” I whispered; his eyes were closed. He took a deep breath before answering me.

“She asked me a question and I had to tell her the truth” he said simply with a tinge of sadness in his tone, his hands now in my waist, holding me in place. Mine on the back of his neck, softly caressing a few strands of his hair.

“What question?” I asked intrigued, but he shook his head and opened his eyes. Hazel staring into green.

“You first,” he said “How do I know I can trust you this time?” he was looking at me, the fear in his eyes clear now “Because I kinda lost a girlfriend tonight, because of you”

I closed my eyes and scrunched up my nose, so I had broken them up. The one thing I had told Pascal I wouldn’t try to do; I had done it. I took a deep breath before answering his question.

“You can’t” I answered truthfully “Because that’s how relationships work, they either hurt or they work” he laughed a little, back in another lifetime he had given me that exact answer. “But I am more than willing to try, Eugene. I am not playing around; you just have to give me a chance.” I just wanted to hug him and to kiss him and to be with him. I was lying my heart on the ground for him, he could finally do as he pleased with it. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t promise that I won’t, same as you with me,” he nodded rapidly, staring at me, still swaying softly. “But I know I am tired of missing you” He hugged me tighter, pulling me even closer to him, as if he were trying to tell me I wouldn’t have to miss him anymore. I was standing on my tiptoes, our eyes locked in. “And this is what I am, I am a mess. I’ve always been a mess around you. And I know all I’ve ever brought into your life is drama and heartbreak but I promise to stay and to fight for us this time. Would that be enough, if I could never give you peace?”

* * *

I was so mesmerized by every single word leaving her lips, I couldn’t contain myself, I wanted to kiss her, I wanted to hug her, I wanted to do unspeakable things to her, I wanted to marry her, so much so those four words almost slipped off my mouth when she asked me to give her a chance. I would give her the entire world on a silver platter if she asked me to. But I had to focus, I still wanted to make an even more important question than the one I had just made which she had answered so delightfully.

“Would that be enough, if I could never give you peace?” she asked, her voice almost breaking. I just simply pulled her even closer, her feet now lifting from the ground, as I nodded, looking at her eyes. Her arms around my shoulders, her hands playing with my hair, it felt like a dream. It had been so long since we had been this close to each other, the previous night at the garden didn’t count because we had had to restrain ourselves, to pull apart, but this time around nothing would tear us apart.

“Okay, so what question did she ask you?” she interrupted my train of thought with her never-ending curiosity “what made you come back to me?” I laughed a little, and looked into her gorgeous green eyes.

* * *

“Has anyone told you how absolutely beautiful you look tonight, sunshine?” he asked me smiling, dodging once again my question.

“Not by anyone that matters, until now” I replied playfully. God, I had missed him, hearing his nickname for me leave his mouth felt like velvet in my ears. “You look very dashing yourself” I said caressing the collar of his black shirt.

“Thanks! My ex chose this outfit for me!” he retorted, I could sense the playfulness in his voice, but I knew he had been hurt again because of me.

“I’m sorry about Stalyan” I told him shamefully “it wasn’t my intention to break you two up, honestly” he shook his head, dismissing my apology.

“It’s alright, it’s better this way. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself knowing I had kissed someone else… Well, not just anyone else” he smiled at me, leaning in closer.

“Oh! Was the question she asked _‘did you cheat on me?’_?” I asked a little bit too excited as if we were playing a game, he shook his head.

“Nope” he answered like a small kid, the seriousness of the situation had suddenly disappeared. “She did ask that, but that wasn’t _the_ question. I did tell her the truth about my midnight walk last night, though”

“Gosh, she must have unfollowed me on Instagram already” I said shaking my head, thinking about how nice she had been to me and how awful I had been to her. Eugene laughed a little at my comment. “So, what was the question?” I asked for a third time, if I didn’t get an answer now, I would cease asking, I didn’t want to be nosey.

“The question was” he paused for a second and looked into my eyes “ _‘do you love her?’_ ” he stopped again, a smile drew itself on his mouth “and I hate lying, so I said yes”

* * *

Her smile lit up like a million stars on the night sky, the lights in the deck were still on surrounding us everywhere, but I could swear her smile was brighter than any of them and the stars combined, she would definitely succeed in blinding me one day.

She tried to launch herself at my lips but I stopped her in her tracks. She gave me a funny look, as if I were crazy for stopping her lips to reach mine.

“Wait, wait, I still have another question for you” I said smiling like a devil and leaning into her, our foreheads touching again, “will you go on a date with me?”

She let out a gasp and somehow her smile widened even more. She nodded her head rapidly before answering a resounding _‘yes’_ and launching herself at me, this time successfully, as I kissed her back with all my might.

* * *

We didn’t let go of each other until the people cleaning up started to turn the lights off on us and we had to walk out of the club. We walked to his apartment ready to spend the first of many nights together, this time certain we wouldn’t let go of the other, not for a long, long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically the main story is done, I will write a final chapter to wrap everything with a bow, but I don't know when that'll be, so I am marking it as finished, in order for people to read it. Many people refuse to read multi-chapters that are marked as unfinished, and that's not the case of this story considering the final chapter is just probably going to be fluff and happy stuff, not plot driven.


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